Blog Notes: Although I much prefer the authenticity of using our real names, I’ve decided to refer to my kids as #1 (oldest - girl), #2 (middle - boy) and #3 (youngest - girl). Can’t be too careful online these days…thanks for understanding! 

Also - a note to subscribers, I noticed that when my blog is emailed, it contains weird symbols that make it choppy and difficult to read.  Not sure why - but if you just click on the link at the bottom of the email, you will be able to read it a lot easier.  THANKS!   Read on for my latest entry...

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As I got off the elliptical yesterday, my legs were rubber and I collapsed like a dead body onto my basement floor. As I lay there huffing and puffing (and pretending to stretch) a song came onto my iPod that I hadn’t heard in a long time: Marc Cohn's “The Things We’ve Handed Down.” If you don't know the song I'm talking about, download it now.  Hell, even if you know the song, listen to it again. It’s just that good.  Here's a cover version I found on YouTube - it's really good but can't compare to Marc Cohn's version, which I couldn't figure out how to share with you.  Legally, that is.

So, as I lay there with the song blaring in my ears, I was suddenly doing the ugly cry. And not just because of the realization of how out of shape I was, but because the words of the song rang particularly true for me at that moment. You see, last week, I took #1 to her allergy/asthma appt. which only served to rub in that she does, in fact, still have allergies and asthma. These twice-a-year appointments are particularly unsatisfying because we have yet to receive anything resembling good news in the 6+ years we’ve been going.

Then, a few days ago, I took #1 to the eye doctor only to hear that she needs glasses. And while my husband and I always (since we met) laughed that our children were destined to be “blind and hairy” - it still hurts. She’s seems too young and pure to have a deficit. And the responsibility of glasses seems too much for a 7-year-old to bear.

And just when you think it couldn’t get worse, the very next day she had a routine dentist appointment and as we were walking out the dentist jokingly said to me, “you‘d better start saving now because there is NO WAY all her teeth are going to fit in that little mouth.” Seriously??? Is she also growing another set of breasts, I mean C’MON!!! But in true fashion, she is Over-the-Moon excited about getting her new glasses. Once again, she is teaching a lesson about how to turn lemons into lemonade.

It’s just that we want our kids to have the best of us - not the worst of us. And even though we are not surprised to learn they have inherited a particular feature/personality trait from us, we are still hopeful that the bad things will somehow escape them and the good things will be even better in their hands. But we can't choose what they get, and in the midst of our frustration about what bad things we’ve handed down, we need to rejoice in the good things they got from us.

Because despite these challenges, #1 is one of the most well-adjusted, confident kids I know. She has the perfect personality to deal with this crappy stuff. So, I guess along with handing down the allergies, poor vision, and yes, the excess hair, we also must have handed down the her graceful ability to handle it in stride.

Each child is a brand new combination of the best of us, the worst of us, and everything in between. I could give birth to 20 kids and they would all be different, but each one of them would be undeniably me. #1: endlessly chatty and slow as molasses-- but happy, confident, and thoughtful. #2: impatient and non-stop -- but smart, creative, and generous. #3: sassy and stubborn -- but loving, affectionate and oozing charm.

The Things We’ve Handed Down??? Yep, that sounds about right. And while they may not always be so grateful for the way that they were made, I wouldn’t want it any other way.