My kids and I had “a sleepover” in the family room this weekend. They laid out their sleeping bags and pillow pets on the floor. I set up camp on the couch, and I’m pretty sure I fell asleep before they did (sad commentary). Around 11:30, my daughter woke me up and asked, “Mommy, is it morning yet?” I told her it was still time to sleep, which she did promptly (after asking if we could watch TV for a while; a question to which I also answered “no”). She went right back off, but I was awake for 3 hours, solving the world’s problems and watching my children. They’re so angelic when they’re asleep. I began to ask myself things like
I wonder what I’d see if I could get into their little minds.
How do they really see me as a person? (probable answer: mostly mean, sometimes nice; mostly serious, sometimes funny; mostly grumpy, sometimes only a little grumpy).
Why are my kids happily getting along, quietly playing, and not needing me in any way, shape or form …. until I get on the phone?
How do my children know exactly which of my buttons to push to make my blood boil?
Will my kids all pick up their dad’s habit of finishing the roll of toilet paper but not replacing it?
What will their personalities be when they are teenagers, young adults, adults?
What will my children grow up to be?
How must a mom feel when her son or daughter hugs her goodbye and heads off to defend our country? How does a mom let go of that embrace? How does a mom let her child go?
With courage. Courage that she’s played hide-and-seek with her children, taught them their ABC’s, cheered at their soccer games, laughed at their jokes, listened to their fears and worries, cried at their graduations, and built them up in every way possible throughout their childhoods.
Our kids are our country’s future. God bless America, and God bless our children!
The World of Author/Mom Alicia Murphy! 
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