“The Parenting Moments I’ll Never Forget”

"You know, when their little itty bitty eyes water, and their heads fly back — mouths wide open — and they just cackle away."—Kris James

“His first time in the ocean. Jackson couldn't stop laughing and dancing around in the water. He breathes wonder into the simplest things. It's one of the many things he has taught me."

"It was taking our foster kids to the beach for the first time. Their mouths dropped and they were speechless. Beth, who is 7, pointed and said, 'It never ends!'" —Morgan Bethell Whener

“When I come home from a concert or tour, and they run at me full speed with saucer-shaped eyes and a guttural scream of happiness.”

"I maintained a garden for years before my kids were born," she says, and when they were old enough to show an interest in gardening, she got them involved. “Watching their faces delight in seeing something they planted come to fruition is priceless. We have countless talks, laughs, and even some tears in our little garden."—Barb Clayton, Syracuse, NY

“Two words–Road Trip! My sons and I traveled all fifty states. Every summer, we would take time off from our hectic schedule and see something new. The stars at night in Montana, the midnight sun in Alaska. New Orleans a week before Katrina hit. The Redwood Forest, the Rocky Mountains, Pearl Harbor, the Grand Canyon. Ground Zero the year after, Central Park and the Statue of Liberty. While all those things were a sight to see, what I really remember is us. CD’s burned for each trip. Something said that got repeated with much laughter the entire week. A Frisbee that went to all fifty states with us. Cards, dominoes, and S’mores. The boys, bigger each year, dutifully posing for pictures with grins on their faces, Just a family, doing what we do. My life? Love and Light and Laughter, courtesy of my three sons.”–Donna Adams