The tragic news of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings last Friday has had the same effect on me as the events of 9-11. It has been a brutal reminder that you never know when the last time you will speak with someone will be.

My heart broke when I heard of the deaths of the young children and teachers at the Sandy Hook Elementary school, it made me realize how devastated I would be to lose my children.  Especially when they are so young.

There are mornings when getting the kids ready for school is a challenge in ultimate time management. Where I am rushing and hollering at them to get their shoes and coats on.  Or for whatever reason it is a morning that they don’t want to listen to me about anything and are existing only in that special world and time-sense that young children occupy.

So I have resolved that I will always tell my children that I love them before seeing them off to school everyday and tucking them into bed every night.

And I will be working very hard to be patient with them when it is a morning that they aren’t listening well.  In the long run, being late to school isn’t as important as my children being secure that their mom loves them.