One Year Later...

A whole year has passed since my last entry.  A whole year!   I can't believe it.  

There are a few reasons I let this happened.  The obvious ones, of course:  not enough time and not enough interest.  But I think perhaps the biggest reason I stopped blogging is that there has been a significant shift in my perception of the ownership of our family stories.  

I remember a few years ago when a friend told me she was very careful about posting things online that involved her preteen daughter.  I recall thinking that was a little silly.  They were my friend's stories and it should've been her decision to share what she wanted to about her life!  And yet now I find myself in the exact same position with Audrey.  

The majority of what I've written about on this site involves the kids.  That was fine when the stories revolved around nap schedules, teething, and even comical toddler tantrums.  But the stakes are a lot higher now.  "Bigger kids, bigger problems" is a real thing.  We are regularly dealing with heart matters and character-shaping situations.  I would never want to write anything that would embarrass her (and I mean embarrass beyond the slight blushing over diaper tales) or jeopardize her trust in me.  Even if she doesn't read this herself yet, people could bring it up to her and it would hurt to know mom was blabbing your business.  And Luke will be in that stage before long as well.  There may come a day when enough time has passed that I'm able to write some of the more memorable anecdotes, but I can't do that in the thick of it.   

The other reason is a little more embarrassing to admit.  I'm not sure if y'all know, but I don't actually know everything.  Shocking, right?!  The farther I get into parenthood, the more that I am acutely aware of that.  I cringe to think about the things I have taken so seriously over the years.  Some things I will forever stand by (for the love of pete, get your toddler off the dang device) but some things really are a matter of preference and individual needs.  I don't want to tout my parenting practices as gospel truth only to have one of these two kids end up in juvey in a couple of years.  We're figuring this out one day at a time over here.  Some days are grace-filled and glorious and some are mercy-filled and mangled.  Having enough of the latter has humbly taught me to be careful boasting about the former.  

So that's where I've been.  But I don't want to leave the blog the way I left it by just dropping off the face of the earth.  That feels too unfinished.  Instead I've decided to post some general updates over the next couple of weeks and months, most of them about the previous year.  I hope the time that has passed will help me do some considerate and sensitive editing.  Then I plan on circling back around Audrey's 10th birthday and deciding where to go from there.  

So welcome back and enjoy the next few posts!