Another Charlie story - yes, he is the youngest and so he gets the extra love and attention that the others are too cool for now. Last year as we were all piled in the car, the kids were sharing stories about their days at school. One child relayed a story of winning a kickball game at recess, another a story of their poem being read aloud in class and another a story of someone getting in trouble for picking on him. I said in response to the last story, "Oh, I'm sad for you. I'm so sorry that happened." Charlie, who had won at kickball, said, "But Mom, you can be happy because I won today!" My response was a quote I had heard sometime before. "Charlie," I said, "a mother can only be as happy as her saddest child." There was a thoughtful silence in the car for a few minutes as everyone was letting this sink in. Finally Charlie piped up again, "Does that mean that because you're our mom, you're, like, connected to you
balancing life, work, and family