Sick and Tired

The only thing worse than being sick is when your kids are sick.  Not only does your entire plan for the day get thrown out the door, but you get to hear hours of whining that as a parent, you must accept.  Normally when your child whines, you can say something like "cut it out" or my personal favorite, "keep it up and I'll give you something to cry about."  But when they are sick you need to suck it up and deal with it.  Plus there's the whole I don't like my child to ever be in pain thing that most of us feel for our kids.
We started off the week with 2 sick little girls, and a teething toddler, I have had less painful dental surgeries, but thankfully they are all back to normal and out of the house today.
Whining and crying are just a couple of things that you learn to deal with as part of parenthood, it beats the alternatives.  A couple of nights at the hospital with Mini Me for various things, as well as a miscarriage, will teach you that if you are not naturally one of those sensitive types.  As parents we get to deal with all sorts of crap, whether it's a whiny child when you are on a call, getting up every night for weeks to change your child's sheets during toilet training season, (with 4 kids 8 and under, it does seem like a yearly thing), or having to say things like "how do you lose 1 shoe?"," don't stick broccoli in your ear," or my personal favorite "yogurt is not paint and your sister is not a canvas."  It means never leaving the front door open when you have an adventurous toddler.  It means seeing just how annoying all of your idiosyncrasies are, because what annoys you most in your own children is usually that same thing that annoys others about you, calling up your own parents and apologizing for all the crap you did after the first time you say the words, "because I am your father and I said so!"
And we don't do it because of those moments when our child wins a wrestling tournament or because they bring home good report cards, we do it because they are our children and we love them, whether they bring home that good report card, or the note from the teacher saying call me with a little sad face on it and a couple of exclamation points.  They are our offspring, our legacy and our fault.  So we do whatever it takes to take care of them, even cleaning poop.

Proper education

Kids learn from everything their parents say and do, this is just a fact of life.  The problem is that having kids doesn't suddenly make one a better person.  A slob doesn't suddenly become Martha Stewart after the birth of their child, and someone who thinks forks are a table decoration does not suddenly become miss manners when their little princess is borne.  This means that an asshat is probably going to raise little asshats of his own, and if you see some 5 year old singing the latest drivel from Brittany Spears, odds are their parents have no taste in music, and this is what they hear in the car on the way to school.

This is way I make sure to introduce my kids to classic rock as early as possible.  They are going to pick up my potty mouth, my hatred for mornings, (except for Curly Sue, she loves mornings, the earlier the better for her), and many of my other shortcomings.  The least I could do is give them a basis for distinguishing quality music, especially in a country that has no true rock stations, and mostly just puts the top 40 on replay, thank G-D for IPods and Internet radio.  And this why Little Red falls asleep most peacefully with the Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynyrd in the background.  

Education starts at home, hopefully, in the case of music appreciation, it ends there as well.

Living in the sticks

I grew up I the suburbs, and I loved it.  I had no dream of city life.  I always envisioned raising my kids in the quiet 'burbs as well.  My wife grew up in a big city, she loves the hustle and bustle of city life, but she too sees the benefits of raising kids outside the city.  However neither of us envisioned the more rural settings that we live in as where we would end up.
Here in Israel, you have the option of living in every conceivable setting there is, from big city, to rural farm and everything in between.  So you might ask, with all those options, why do we choose to live on a hilltop off the beaten path?
There are many reasons, but the best way to summarize it is quality of life.  While we may have spotty public transportation, we have a neighborhood full of people who will give you a lift in or out.  Our kids have the run of the neighborhood, with only a couple of streets, and enough cul-du-sacs and walking paths. We don't worry about them crossing busy streets or getting lost on the way to a friend's house.  And since everyone here knows each other, my kids that their parents are always watching them.  I have a yard with grass and a great view, an herb garden, a vegetable garden, and a couple of trees.  All of this for a fraction of an apartment in the city.  Sure it may take us more time to go out to a nice dinner, but because we are right in between 2 major cities, we have plenty to choose from.
Besides, I have a much better appreciation for Jeff Foxworthy's humor now that my neck is a darker shade of red.