"You don't raise heroes, you raise kids…

and if you treat them like kids, 

they will be heros even if just in your own eyes"

When you have a baby you will start raising them the minute they are born.  You think about what kind of person they will be and you start to mold them to have traits that will take them far in life.  Being a military wife I saw what was needed in life to become the best that you can be.  The things you will want to teach your children will help them from the time they are a baby until the day you send them out in the real world.  Your baby will rely on you 100% and the first trait they will learn from you is trust.  Your baby will grow up knowing just how important it is to be a trusting person, that anyone can count on them and they will follow through.  When your trusting dependent baby becomes an independent toddler, the next trait they will learn is self confidence.  They will stand up ready to take their first step and fall, and fall again.  Your job is to help them to get up off the ground, dust off the hurt and try again.  As long as they know you are their biggest fan they will gain the self confidence to keep trying until they have taken more steps than they realized!  The day you say good`bye to them and they look forward with out looking back, you will know that you have taught them self confidence.  Ambition is big one that comes the first day you leave them at pre~school.  They will see this whole new world ahead of them that they will want to dive in head first!  They walk into this room full of kids just like them, and if you teach them to be ambitious and strong,  you can walk out of that room knowing they will be ok.  The most important trait that you can try to instill would be happiness…Some people are just born happy, I have one of those. Things just don't bother 
them and they can just get over the bumps in life and move on  Some kids need a little push in seeing the bright side of things in life. I have one of those too!  They will look to you for happiness..so in all reality, if you are a happy mom, your kids will take that from you and see the best parts of life instead of the things that can bring you down…and yes, I have one of those too.  She is just like me :)

These are just a few things that when your kids are older they will realize what's truly important in life…Trust, Self Confidence, Ambition and HAPPINESS

     I never thought the day you dropped me off at nursery school you would actually leave me.  But then again, I never thought you would leave me at 32 years old either.  I sit here and think how life isn’t always fair, but I think I felt that way when I was 3.  I was a shy, little mommies girl hiding behind glasses, who thought life did not go on with out you. You did however come back that day in 1970, I ended up being a pre -school drop out at 3.   But We did get to spend a lot more time together.

     I figured out ways even in kindergarten to be able to call you during the day.  I would do everything from peeing on the floor during circle time, to unscrewing my glasses so that you would have to come to school For me.  I finally just learned to wait until I got home from school to see you.  There you were, every day, sitting outside with Sam waiting for me to get off the bus.  I don’t know what it was about coming home that was just so comfortable.

     Mom, you always had just the right thing to say, or knew the right time for a hug or a hand to hold.  I could always so easily fall asleep because of the comfort you brought. You knew when I was sad, mad, or just needed to be with you.

  My mom was not just your ordinary mom.  She had many struggles of her own.  From the time she was just a little girl she had to deal with sickness that not very many kids had to fight.  She was always so strong and positive no matter what.  Nana and Papa, (her mom and dad) had to leave her at a hospital when she was just 9 years old so that she could be treated for polio.  But she once again, being the strong person she was smiled for every picture and I’m sure said good-bye with a big hug and kiss reassuring my grandparents she would be fine.  She defied all odds, she finally walked without braces or crutches!

Defying all odds was something that she got to be known for.  She was told that having babies would not be an easy feat.  1 baby, 2 miscarriages, and 2 more babies later, she proved everyone wrong!  3 kids with her high school sweetheart (my amazing dad!) made for a pretty incredible family.  She still always had to be very careful with what she did, but that didn’t stop her.  We still traveled, boated, swam,  she did everything and anything to make sure her kids grew up happy and loving life.  That’s what she did and that’s what she taught us, to love life