Medals of Honor

The house is silent.

There were no giggles and, "ssshhh, she's still asleep," coming from the other end of the house.

There was no one in her Tinkerbell pajamas peeking around the corner of the dresser with pleading eyes and voice, "Grama, I'm hungry....can we please have breakfast now."

There was no sound of "He/she stole, hit, took, kicked, knocked, looked or touched me."

The only signs they had even been here for two weeks were a Lightning McQueen car hidden way under the bed, a lone pink sock, a crayon on the kitchen table, a perfect handprint on the window, magnets found deep in the carpet.

But they HAD been here; 8 children over a two-week period.

And, I realized again that Nathaniel, Jeanine, Justin, Amy, Jordan, Janna, Andrea, and all other parents out there...you may never win the Medal of Freedom, but you deserve it. Your face may never grace the cover of TIME magazine as person of the year, but you will have earned that honor. You may never win the Nobel Peace Prize officially, but in my heart, you have earned it many times over.

For you have given your lives to the highest, noblest, most time-consuming, never have a vacation, and most challenging of all positions;

You are a parent.