The Platypus Mound, slightly tweaked.

Do you remember the Platypus family on Mr. Rogers? I always loved them. Anna was too girley for me, but I loved how they were as a family. That's where the name comes from. I'm a family gal. I love scrapbooking,crafting, canning, the constant quest to find what I need for a price I can afford, my various other crafting, and time wasters. Our house is constantly under construction and there is always some level of chaos. We laugh cry and drive each other nuts! Through it all, it's family. Family has changed the way I look at life and what deem important. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be? If not we would be born like turtles and just left on a beach to run the gauntlet, live or die, on our own. I'll take the insanity that comes with family.

Point is the Platypus mound was like the ideal in family life. There was the doctor dad and artist mom. They were kind and understanding and seemed to always know just what to do. My house, not so much. I tell my 11 year old boy that he's our guinea pig and his brother and sister will be eternally grateful for letting us work out the kinks of parenthood on him. Don't misunderstand, we're still screwing up. I just think we're better at hiding and undoing the things we screw up so it doesn't mess them up as bad. I think a major improvement came when we accepted that we were not perfect and our children are not going to be perfect. It's less upsetting when something goes wrong if your prepared for it. Yes, I've told him a million times not to do it, but I also understand that I've been told a million times about something else and still haven't learned. The consequences will still come in both cases. I can only hope to receive charitable judgments and try to pass out the same.

All in all, life is good. We work and the ends don't always meet, but we survive it. We have each other. I'm so grateful for our kids. It's an honor to have been blessed with them. I appreciate my mom, and grandparents that put in so much love and pulled out so much hair over me and my stupidity. I'm grateful for my dad and the siblings he gave me, and step mothers he gave me. I'm grateful for the excellent man I married and his family. I think about the ups and downs of these relationships and am actually surprised that we all survived and came through it together. Some almost didn't. Life may be good but it's far from perfect.

Thanks for reading this.