Never Too Late

Ok, so I've had a rough couple of weeks with my oldest son. He's awesome and such a good kid most of the time. We've just had some new attitude developments and school adjustments to work through. Michael took the kids to Lagoon and will be back later this morning, so I've been alone for 24 hours. Sunday mornings are usually spent sleeping and listening to the fighting or horsing around, which causes some major irritation while trying to get ready for church. Anyway, it's silent this morning and I heard Nick's alarm--I was already up but irritated to go all the way upstairs and turn it off. When I got up there, it dawned on me that his alarm going off at 6 is a sign of him being responsible and I thought to myself, "Why am I so irritated? He's such a good kid! He's been getting up on his own for two years!" Then I glanced over his pile of clothes I asked him to take down before they left, on top of the messed up bed and saw on his night stand his scriptures out of their case, so he's obviously been reading them. Anyway, I got tears in my eyes and finally did what I've been planning to do for so many years--write him a letter about all the reasons I am proud of him. Why has it taken me so long to do this? Maybe this is the best time for him to receive it? Anyway, I wrote thirteen reasons and it took up 2 pages. Maybe he will roll his eyes, but it felt good to write it. I need to remember to catch him doing things right, a parenting 101 basic! Anyway, I guess it's never too late to try to be a better parent.