My fourth child was born last week.  He’s a boy and a total dude.  This particular dude is as chill as they come.  I’ve never met a newborn that seems so content.  He was a whopper by our standards.  Our biggest before last week entered the world at 8 lbs 3 oz and this new one tipped the scales at 8lbs 10oz.  Solid too.  He looked a bit like a line backer.  When we got him home and measured him up against his eighteen-month-old sister he looked like a peanut (and she became a giant), but on his own…line backer!

So here we are four kids in and loving every minute of it.  Well, truth be told, some minutes are more challenging than others.  There are the middle-of-the-night “on call” moments when my forty-year-old body begs me to stay in bed, or the four kids (five and under) shouting at the top of their lungs first thing in the morning moments, or the moments in which I see any one of my kids hurting and feel pangs of helpless frustration running through my body.  Even so, whenever I reflect on the moments of my life individually and holistically, I always come around to the fact that I’m blessed in ways I could have never imagined.

I was checking out at the hardware store recently.  I mentioned to the clerk that I was about to welcome my fourth child into the world.  She looked at me and said, “Wow, four kids…you must be rich!”  I replied, “Actually, with four kids I’m specifically not rich!”

But in fact I am.  Every snuggle, every giggle, every puzzle piece, every page of every book, every crayon, every Lego, every blueberry pancake, and every other moment in time that I get to spend with my wife and kids is worth more than any amount of money I could ever stash away!  Having the opportunity to spend this week helping my wife and the rest of the crew get number four up and running makes me feel like I won the lottery!  Not to mention, I’m an educator, which means that I get to spend the rest of time working with incredible people in efforts to positively impact the lives of the children in our school community.

Like in parenting, in education there’s a lot of stuff going on in every moment that sometimes ain’t so easy.  My oldest is now in kindergarten.  He has an amazing teacher and we’re fortunate to have him in a wonderful school.  My wife and I (and our newborn) went to our first conference with the teacher a few nights ago.  As I listened to her talk to me about the challenges and triumphs my big guy has been experiencing so far at school, I found myself thinking about my hopes for him as he moves forward on this incredible journey.  There are plenty, but one of the most important is that he finds plenty of riches along his path.  I hope that he feels joy in the things he’s doing and the people he knows.  I hope that they feel rich having the opportunity to spend their time with him.

As an educator, I strive to do all I can to positively impact the wellbeing and achievement of the student I serve.  More and more each day I’m coming to understand that simply marveling in my students’ incredibleness and appreciating the blessing that is our time together is a decent start.  If my own children never earn A’s on their math tests or learn to spell twenty words correctly each week (which would be nice too), I hope that they feel valued and that they truly understand the overwhelming riches that they brings into the lives of everyone around them.

Today I was walking to the park with my three-year-old and my one-year-old and I found myself taking a route that would have us crossing the street two times instead of once.  I did it so that I could hold their hands twice.  It was awesome.  Having four kids does not make me rich with money, but it does make me rich with hands to hold, and I’ll take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

Parents and educators, the bottom line is that I would suggest that remembering our riches reminds us how incredibly blessed we are!

Live. Learn. Lead.

 

Dream Big. Work Hard. Be Well.