Live Out Loud - Adventures of a mom

It's Father's Day weekend and while the boys went out for a baseball game, my daughter and I decided to spend some quality time.  Ever since she saw the trailer of the new Pixar movie "Inside Out" she's been counting down the days for the release. So of course we got tickets and went to watch the movie.  I was very interested and intrigued by the premise of the movie via trailers:   Inside each of us there is a world full of emotions, each represented by a character. The premise is intriguing.   Putting something we do not see (ie. feelings) and make them 'seen',  make them talk and act and feel in front of our eyes. I had high expectations of the movie and I have to say it delivered.  I laughed.  I cried (Yes, I did).  It made me think Upon just finishing watching it ONCE (because you know this will be one of those movies I will watch over and over again), and while trying not to give too much of the movie away, here is what I took from the movie:

I had the pleasure of attending our kids' school's graduating class ceremony last night.  This was my second time.  Last year was an eye opening experience as I had never attended a 'graduating' ceremony in elementary school. This year I was a little more prepared. I was invited to represent school council and say a few words of encouragement and congratulations. But what to say? I share this with you all here because I think there is a lesson for all of us here.   Lately God's been reminding me to learn to LIVE.  One of my Latin American Studies professors in College taught me something I never forgot (Yes, you learn things in college sometimes).  A lot of us here in North America, when asked, "why are you working so hard?" respond:  "I'm working to earn a living" But her point?  We want to earn a living but we do not know how to ENJOY that living we are earning I learned to plan, persevere and work hard thanks to my parents, a

I've been sharing with you my journey as a mother of kids in the public school system.  Before I go on to share with you the fourth part of the series ... let's remind ourselves of this.  We can choose to see our kids' education as a right (which I agree it is) but we can also choose to see it as a blessing. You can CHOOSE BOTH. A lot has been happening lately in the schools:  we have an ongoing teachers' dispute and we have unhappy parents protesting against the new health education curriculum, amongst other things. But as I immerse myself as much as possible to be part of my kids' education career, I wonder how many of us are aware there are many other concerns that should raise our brows or at least cause us to pause and think and pray and reflect and ask for discernment.   The list can be long but if we don't change the way we understand our roles as parents of children in public schools (and any school for that matter), all these issues stand to be in d