Being new and all, I meant to add this to my last post, but then couldn't figure out how to add it before I published it - oh well!!

My son

So as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have one son. One and only son. Six children and only one son. The worst part is, the poor guy really should have been an only child. He has that only child personality, as in he gets a little cranky when he's not being paid attention to. Or maybe the baby, that would probably have been okay. But he's the oldest....the oldest of six...and the only boy.

My favorite part of having my son is that he needs me. Yes, my daughters need me - but it's not the same. When my daughters need me, it becomes a teaching moment. How can I teach them to not need me? That is, after all, my job, right? I want them to make their own decisions, solve their own problems, make their own food, learn to live their own lives. I wasn't raised that way. I wasn't allowed to make decisions and when I finally had to, it used to paralyze me with fear. But my son.....when he needs me, I fix it. What is that all about? With him, I want to make it all better. But I have come to realize recently, I'm not helping and in fact, I'm probably hurting him. He just moved into his own apartment recently. He's still in college - he goes to a local campus of Penn State - and he moved in with some friends who are going there too. He also works so he thinks he's got it all covered. I'm pretty sure he doesn't - but at least he's trying. And I have to let him ..without fixing it. Of course he stopped in unexpectedly today, "just to say hi". And to mention that he's going to Main campus for the weekend....supposedly to visit his sister, among other people. He might have mentioned being a little short on cash due to all the bills he just had to pay last week, and I might have mentioned I had 30.00 I could slip him. The hug was worth it!

I'm Coming Out!!

Hi..My name's Erma and I'm a blogaholic. Okay, so not really. Actually, a blog readeraholic. Today's the day and I'm jumping in. This is going to be my blog. I read many blogs - for entertainment, inspiration, motivation, connection and many other reasons. I get pulled into other people's "stories", feel connections, want to be a part of conversations but for some reason never join in. Well, that is all changing today! I feel like I'm ripping off a mask - coming out of the closet, so to speak. I look forward to being able to comment on all the blogs that I follow. I look forward to writing. I look forward to keeping an account of my story.

Here's a short intro: My family is a large one by some people's standards. By "some people" I mean the ones who say "wow, you have a large family!" My husband and I will be married 25 years this June! We have 6 children: the oldest is our son Bryan, and then 5 girls; Stephany, Megan, Lauren, Julia and Kamryn. For the record, no - we weren't trying for another boy. We weren't really "trying" for anything, but we have exactly what we never knew we wanted! Our oldest is 22 and our youngest just turned 6. 2 in college, 1 in high school, 1 in middle school, 1 in elementary and the youngest just started Kindergarten. To complement our wide array of children, we have an equally wide array of animals. 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 turtles. I stay at home and keep things running smoothly on the homefront - who am I kidding?! I struggle daily with getting ALL the laundry done, All the cleaning done, cooking, etc. etc. Homework is a fun adventure nightly! But we deal and somehow everything all works out!

So, my goal for now is to blog daily for at least the first month. I'd like to try to make it a habit and I'm on daily reading, anyway. If I leave you a comment, I would LOVE for you to leave me a comment also (I need all the encouragement I can get!!) .