Merry Christmas!

I didn’t get Christmas Cards out this year 😦 So, the end of this post contains the best pictures from 2015!

As a notorious Christmas-time Grinch, Scrooge, whathaveyou, I am often at my gruuuuuummmmpist during this season. Well documented from teenage journals and this blog, I’m not sure about the solution (except acceptance because I have tried many ideas over the years).

What is “Acceptance”?

A quick search hands me this:
“Simple Definition of acceptance
: the act of accepting something or someone
: the quality or state of being accepted or acceptable”

Hmm. Accepting, Accepted, Acceptable.

Full Definition of accept
transitive verb
1
a : to receive willingly <accept a gift>
b : to be able or designed to take or hold (something applied or added) <a surface that will not accept ink>
2
: to give admittance or approval to <accept her as one of the group>
3
a : to endure without protest or reaction <accept poor living conditions>
b : to regard as proper, normal, or inevitable <the idea is widely accepted>
c : to recognize as true : believe <refused to accept the explanation>
4
a : to make a favorable response to <accept an offer>
b : to agree to undertake (a responsibility) <accept a job>
5
: to assume an obligation to pay; also : to take in payment <we don’t accept personal checks>
6
: to receive (a legislative report) officially

Okay, let’s try “Accept defined for Kids” because Lord knows the movie “Big” is the only explanation for my current age!

Student Dictionary

One entry found for accept.
Main Entry: ac·cept
Pronunciation: ik-primarystresssept, ak-
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English accepten “receive, accept,” from early French accepter (same meaning), derived from Latin accipere “receive,” from ac-, ad- “to” and capere “to take” –related to CAPTURE, EXCEPT, RECEIVE
1 a : to receive or take willingly <accept a gift> <accepted her as a member> b : to be able or designed to take or hold (something applied or added) <a surface that will not accept ink> <a computer program ready to accept commands>
2 a : to agree to <accept an offer> b : to agree to undertake (a responsibility) <accept a job> c : to take on an obligation to pay; also : to take in payment <don’t accept checks>
3 : to think of as proper or normal <the idea is widely accepted>
– ac·cept·er or ac·cep·tor /-primarystresssep-tschwar/ noun

Whoa! That Student Dictionary definition was the most challenging. What the?!

Sidebar: Ariel stopped by, a minute ago, to inform me, “All you do is work! You don’t play with us!” 1,995 photos that were just imported from my phone tell a different story…but perhaps there is truth in my impairment with regards to Play.

Children are the toughest critics. Not intentionally, its only that…as I age…I care less and less and less about what anyone thinks about me or my actions.

Yet, it matters more than ever how my children experience our time together. 

It feels like I try to prepare them for the world, but if I was a really good parent I would be preparing them to change the world.

It reminds me of a Bible quote, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways.”

Children are here to show us something new. Something more beautiful than what is already occurring. This is the way of life.

Merry Christmas!