In my opinion, having began my family at a very young age, (19) my advice to anyone would be to wait until you are in your mid to late twenties at least before you start having children. I don't feel I knew enough about who I was as a person at 19 to have the  responsibility of raising a brand new human being and instilling a sense of who they could be. 

A person should be old enough, and self aware enough, to cherish a child and make them the focal point of their lives before they decide to have a family. Children are a gift from God, and their every breath is dependent on us. It is our job to give them the very best of ourselves so they have dependable role models to look to throughout their lives for love, assurance, and self worth.

Do what you need to do for yourself before you begin to do what needs to be done to raise a child. Know that you are in a secure, loving, committed relationship so they can grow up with the balance of a father AND a mother. I know the world has come to accept the reality of one parent families, and I don't intend to take anything away from single parents who work at being the best they can for their children. I've been a single Mom myself for over 20 years. That doesn't mean it is the best way to raise a child.

Whatever your situation, if you have a child, make them the center of your universe. Despite the struggles and challenges of raising kids, it really is only the blink of an eye before you turn around and they are creating lives of their own. Whatever age you are, cherish every moment you share with them, as the greatest blessing your life can ever have.
   

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I promised to share my morning with some of the dance kids last weekend before they had to start their rehearsals, so here it is.

This is Nick and Nick's HUGE plate of pancakes! He thought he could actually eat this....He couldn't! Course he had also had a coffee and a fruit smoothie...but then so had...

Gabby....She's a skinny minnie...That cleaned up plate of hers?....was full of the biggest stack of french toast covered in blueberries and strawberries and whip cream that I have ever seen!!!!!!...She ALSO had a fruit smoothie and she out ate Nick no contest!

This is the ending to an awesome meal filled with lots of fun and laughter. How those kids danced after eating all that stuff I have no idea. I went home for a nap!

And here's the wrting on the wall! The girls drew the high school logo and the names of all the dances they were doing. Floyd's Diner is a very kewl place to eat. The walls are covered in stuff like this! It's a lot of fun.

Nick and Chewy and Kimmie

And...Ella

And a still of the dance that won them the senior honors Hip Hop dance award which they will be accepting tomorrow night at the Victoria Dance Festival Gala. It truly was an awesome number. (Once we get the dvd of the dances I might even be able to post it)

So that was my last Sunday...it was a great weekend. I love sharing time with these enthusiastic young people. It reminds you that there are still lots of youth working hard, doing what they love and giving it their all....We hear far too much about what young people do wrong these days and not nearly enough about what they are doing right. Overall I think our youth deserve much more credit than they receive...It's a tough world they live in...and plenty of them still manage to live well!