The Aggies are coming...

We are routine people - I know you are shocked by this information. Part of that routine is our weekly menu - set every Saturday for the week ahead so we can grocery shop on Sunday between church and picking the kids up for Sunday school. 

(And now you are already bored by this post. Should I include the list?)

I like to give the kids' a heads up about the menu so that they can either be super excited about the selection or work up the strength to eat such wretched things as sausage corn chowder. 

But every now and then there is a surprise item that gets them counting down the nights until their favorite meal of the week! This week it was chili and because of Ryan's award winning recipe - no, it's because the Aggies were coming to dinner! This also called for a celebratory cake that they insisted on baking the night before. 

(I need to pause in this post to show my attempt at taking an action photo of the kids. Please direct your attention to Emerson - she saw the camera and refused to do anything but smile. I would move, she would move. She would tilt her head and giggle all while Landry and Radley were fully committed to the project). 

My kids LOVE my job - sometimes more than I love my job. They love that I am on "campus", they love that I see Kyle Field, they love that they can sit in my office and draw on a white board. They love all the glamorized and made-up parts of my job that sorta of exist in real life but largely exist in their minds. 

I remember LOVING my parents' jobs. I loved that my mom worked at a bookstore with Baylor kids. (Ew. In my defense, I mostly loved Trey Roberts. This cutie patootie that would take me to eat lunch when mom couldn't leave and I was home "sick".) I loved the smell of that store and sitting in this tiny little hidden spot flipping through old books and comics lost in my own world. 

I loved that my dad worked at JCP. I loved helping decorate for Christmas. I loved wrapping presents. I loved helping the stockroom. I loved being the center of attention (duh) and helping pick out what would be on the floor. I loved sitting in his office and playing at his desk. I loved that I got to use the employee restrooms instead of the public ones. (And sometimes I still try to sneak back there.)

So I get it. I get why my kids love my job and Ryan's, too.

But on nights like this one, I really love my job, too. Don't get me wrong, there are times I want to scream and pull out my hair in the world of higher education. But, when I clear all the junk out and focus on why I was called to this profession, I am so thankful. I love the young adults that I get to work with regularly. I love that I am able to guide them and shape them and hopefully help them move and grow into the next generation of adults that will help shape the world. 

Yes, that's awesome - having an influence is awesome.

But, being influenced is awesome. I am influence by these men and women. I am made better by them. And even more, knowing your kids are being influenced - by responsible, caring, hard-working, selfless leaders - well, that's a gift. My kids watch them and hear them and see them. They know that Aggies help people. They know that sometimes Aggies need help.  

And I know, I KNOW that the external influences on my children's lives are much more powerful than the ones that we offer. Not because they don't love us, or value us, but because they see us daily. They know our advice, they have us pegged, we are constants. The Aggies are heroes in their eyes - the Aggies are gladiators. The Aggies are the people they want to become. 

I'm thankful the Aggies are part of our routine.