Mommy's Project 52:42 Sharing

I have started this entry a gazillion times (OK, so four or five).  The obvious topic for a subject like sharing would be my kids sharing their things.  Once I go there, however, my head is filled with their protests and arguments when one of them isn't 'sharing'. 

In the 'adult world', there's the coworker who over-shares, filling you in on her horrible morning dealing with an attack of IBS.  Thanks for sharing, honey, but, maybe you should get the clue that your body just doesn't like Mexican food as much as you would like it to.

Who can forget the lovely people you encounter when you're out and your kids are not minding their P's and Q's, and all the lovely advice, direction, and judgement they love to share with you.  Because what better time for a stranger to tell you "how it should be done" than when your four year old is flailing on the floor like a fish out of water because you asked her to hold your hand in the store.

Naturally, we share germs by sneezing, breathing, touching, and generally existing. 

My favorite kind of sharing, however, is when I can sit with my seven year old, Ethel, and she tells me about something she did at school, or a conversation she had with a friend.  Sometimes she has something more serious to tell me, sometimes it's about the kid in class who farted in art.  Whatever she has to tell me at these times, I sit in amazement that I'm actually having a conversation with my first born.  I can tell her stories about my day or things that happened to me when I was her age.  Sometimes we talk about my parents, her grandparents, or I share memories with her about times, people, and events in my past.


It's not sharing a toy, a hair bow, or my favorite sweater.  To me, memories and stories are some of the most important things to share.  And I love to share those with my kids.