Goodbye Week. Hello Weekend. Lessons Learned: Take 73.

Goodbye tons of homemade toffee I sent off with Super Hubby to give to his clients for holiday gifts and thanks for a good year (this toffee gift is a tradition).

Goodbye finishing up Kiddo's holiday wish list and being lucky enough to be at Target right after a new shipment hit the shelves - woo hoo!

Goodbye shirking responsibilities to spend time having lunch with girlfriends - so good for the soul during this most hectic time of year.

Goodbye light homework week and enjoying the gifted break.

Goodbye annoying chirping from our smoke detector, even after changing the battery and cleaning it with canned air.

Hello, Santa, we need two new smoke detectors.
Hello slowing things way down and getting into the true holiday spirit.
Hello hosting another Gamer's Club meeting this weekend for my son and his friends- I'm seeing homemade Rice Krispy Treats for snack - yummy!
Hello trying my hand at a paella recipe - wish me luck.
Hello rain, rain, and more rain (better than snow).

My lesson learned this week comes from where most wisdom resides if we look and listen closely enough: from within our own children. We had a tough week as a family. Some typical kid stuff happened in the school locker room with my son being involved in the "incident". I'm so proud of him for sticking up for himself, but that part is too long of a story to get into. Rumors spread like rumors do, especially with quick-tongued 5th graders, and a lot of "junk" went down this week. The school administration knows the truth of what happened, so do we, and despite the rumors being spread, so do the boys involved. Acting as Mother Hen, I want to protect and I worry about how all of this is affecting my son. I spoke to him last night during dinner, informing him about the rumors and asked him how he felt about it. He responded with a quote he had read earlier in the week from a Cleveland writer for the Plain Dealer, Regina Brett. His response: "What other people think of me is none of my business." I'm not worried anymore.

Go gently, friends, and have a wonderful weekend.