Back into the swing of things

Well our holidays are basically done. We spent last weekend gorging (I'll use that word altho' I'm sure I'm misspelling it) ourselves in Saskatoon once again at McGuire's Irish Pub before heading to Davidson to pick stuff up for my brother who was moving back home (to Regina). The next day we (and I mean Steve and Kris - my brother) moved a bunch of my sister's stuff to her new apartment. Sunday, Steve watched the Labour Day classic, while Amy (my sister) and I watched the timeless classic Clueless (which is based on the Jane Austen classic "Emma"). We fed the ducks and geese while continually avoiding the swarms of wasps (or hornets...I can't tell the difference) that have inhabited the area and made our "routine" trip to Starbucks for coffee and my favourite, a double chocolate chip frappuccino. (Ewww...I just googled it and the nutritional information came up. I won't tell you how much calories are in a grande. Just remember...they sure do taste good!!) Yum!

But as we started our journey (back in S'toon) I heard stories (from the in-law camp trip) that I hadn't heard previously and it got me thinking about how different siblings can be even tho' they were raised the same in the same household. What makes them so different? I've often wondered about that. Growing up I never wanted to drink to get drunk or try smoking or any other drug for that matter. It took me forever to get interested in boys, whereas my sister was interested in makeup and boys in her teens and now has quite a few "wasted" stories to share. I look at Steve and his brother Adam. Complete opposites in EVERY way. One chose the path of alcohol, drugs and sex, while the other had no interest and instead chose youth groups, church camps and friends. Yet they were raised in the same household, by the same mother. And now I see more of Steve's Dad in Adam, even tho' growing up Adam rarely had anything to do with his Dad. So is there something genetic to it? Do we pass on more than our looks to our children? Or is it purely chance and some kids "just get into the wrong crowd"? Sometimes that thought scares me. It's like, I can do all the teaching/preaching I can to my children and they can still choose to turn away from everything I taught them and hope for them. It's almost infuriating.

And so I pray for them, my kids, every night. Pray that God will keep them close and help us, as parents to do our best for them. That's really all we can do. And quite honestly that bugs me. I want to be able to do more.

Sigh.

Mom's Morning Out starts in one week. Did I mention that I'm excited about this fall session? I totally am. You can check out the line-up here. And I will see you at the Registration next week!!