Messy Monday: Back to School, Averages, and Making Time

I skipped last week, and my Love would say I need to be in bed instead of making sure I post this week. However, I made a commitment to mention my messiness so here it is!

AND SHINY THINGS!!!

Introducing ME! 

I started back to school on the 10th. My "vintage" credits made most of the cut so I am starting mid-Junior year as far as credits go.  Here is the introduction entry I made for my first assignment. 

Jennifer Bogdanowicz here, majoring in Healthcare Administration, living in northern Idaho with my husband of 27+ years, our three sons who are 14, 13, and 10. I have served in multiple administrative and medical positions over the years. I finally decided to combine the two and do something useful with both. I never wanted a career, only to be a stay at home mom. Almost 10 years of infertility forced me to get a job (or many) and find a way to invest in people since I couldn’t be a parent. My resume’ is loaded with everything from Head Athletic Trainer, Executive Assistant to Idaho State Fire Commissioners, Emergency Medical Technician, Pony Pals ride operator, substitute teacher, owner of Live Courageous Coaching, LLC, and currently the Supplemental Inpatient Secretary for the Adolescent Psych Unit in our region’s largest hospital.

I am an avid blogger, specializing in transparency regarding marriage, parenting, and life in general. I love Jesus, adore Brene’ Brown, appreciate sarcasm, and swear more than my husband. Our family motto is “Be the Blessing” and we actively work together at encouraging others and laughing hard every day.

I believe Leadership happens by intentional example. I have served in multiple leadership positions since I was 16 (roughly 1,000 years ago). I love audiobooks on leadership and drive my family crazy with reminders they make an impact – positive or negative – wherever they go with quotes like “Your response is your responsibility.” “Did you communicate blessing with your words or actions?” and “Speak Life, Damnit!”

I look forward to growing personally and professionally in the process of completing my degree. This class looks like it will bring up great revelation and stir up things I’ve learned in the past that have been dormant for decades.

Now, last week I managed to get 9/10, 25/25, and 40/40. I anticipate I am not likely to repeat this glorious miracle due to my inattention to the APA style of formatting required. I just can't seem to wrap my brain around it. In the meantime, I celebrated Christmas early with my people tonight, had a celebratory dinner, finished up the last week of their schooling by taking a zillion pictures, attending festivities, hosting a Christmas party for the boys friends and their parents (I highly recommend this), and somehow managing to wrap, mail, and only be stressing over about 20 Christmas cards I still haven't sent yet. So, I am hoping that this assignment, even if I bomb it can be counteracted by brilliance in the next few weeks. I'm not holding my breath... but I do love the class and being in school again!

I spent the WHOLE day with my family yesterday. Sitting in a not-cozy lodge at the top of a gorgeous mountain and soaking up my people and our friends. It was a gift. Just being. I was supposed to download some school work, but it didn't work so I colored instead. Most inspiring moment: Watching my Love choose to learn something new. After 45 years on skis he got on a snowboard! I was crazy proud, made our friend promise not to break him, and loved being there to witness the choice, the lesson (some of it, at least) and the post effort pains of learning a new physical skill after 40...

This week was MESSY, but soooo worth it. I certainly sent my fair share of PLEASE PRAY texts to my tight few who slay dragons in the heavenlies for me on a regular basis. We also had some gut crunching belly laughs, smart ass brilliance, and quality conversations.

Merry Christmas!
Stay MESSY my Friends!

Mom Speech: Back to School

Did anyone else give a speech this morning before dropping their impressionable youth back in the fishbowls of education? 

I can't be the only one who started with: "Don't be Assholes".

It never would have occurred to me to say that years ago when they first started school.

When our oldest graduated Kindergarten

They started out sweet, kind, innocent little boys who had not been bullied, yelled at, sworn at, talked down to, or generally pushed around in the public arena. Now, after one survived middle school, one is finishing middle school and one is finishing elementary, they have been there, done that and even caused some of it. 

We listened to an audio book on the way home from our road trip yesterday. Everybody Always by Bob Goff was the perfect listen just before school started. Loving people, even when it's hard, not being afraid, and recognizing that everyone comes from a different place and has a different story are excellent reminders before re-entry. 

Now that they have been immersed for years in the group dynamics of academics, relationships, competition, and general bored disrespect they have a choice to make:

They can be kids who put down, bully, and smack talk the people around them or be Mighty Men (I've called them that since they were small.) who speak hope, kindness, and encouragement. They say they want to be Mighty Men but one decision at a time will tell who they choose to become. 

9th, 8th, and 5th grade this year

Some decisions they made this summer weren't consistent with what they've been taught. We've had some pretty intense family discussions and training regarding appropriate respectful behaviors versus generally accepted boy nonsense. 

One of my greatest struggles is wanting to help them determine the best thing to do instead of letting them decide what to do. My Love is much better at this than I am. I recognize they must learn how to succeed and how to fail and recover but I find letting them do that is excruciating! However, this whole parenting thing isn't about me, is it?

Nope. It's about them. Becoming. Growing. Learning. Falling. Getting up. Trying again. 

I can't control their choices anymore (like I ever really could!), so, I remind them they are Mighty Men who can speak hope, kindness, and encouragement to others. And occasionally, I remind them of what they can become if they don't (see above). 

Teaching them to walk and use the potty was frustrating and messy at times and we survived that...