I would love to some day be known for some great invention! I think it would be great to be able to add some contribution to mankind. To be know for something other than just being here and loving my girls.

Some of the greatest inventions of all time would have to be cell phones and the internet. Many times we overlook some of the other just as great inventions we use everyday. We could talk about indoor plumbing or even the printing press but I want to focus on elevators.

I know elevators may not be the greatest thing ever and many ties we don’t even realize how much the escalator does for us. It enables us to floors with very little effort on our part. We take one step on and eventually one step off.

This has been a great advance in saving our energy for greater things. (I am one of those people that wants to race those of you who ride the flat conveyor belt at the airport.) I enjoy the challenge. Inside I gloat when I beat you. The challenge is fun and gives me motivation to walk faster.

The more time we spend together there will of course be disagreements. I personally dislike disagreements. I want to avoid them if at all possible. I also would rather remedy the problem as soon as possible so we can finish the argument.

For some reason in my personal assessment of the girls’ arguments they seem to always choose to escalate the issue. They seem to never want to make peace.

Why is it that we always think of escalators as going up?

Don’t they have a down side too?

Of course escalators have an up and a down.

But so many times I want to jump from the ride up straight to the ride down half way up, before it gets scary.

I have been learning during these past years that I need to learn to be willing to ride the escalator to the top. It seems scary. We are getting higher and higher. Less to hold on to. We see that if we were to fall off we would definitely be hurt.

So we must ride it all the way to the top. Then take a step back and then wait as we ride back down. (This is a must see when the first escalator comes into town. “Elf” portrays it so well.)

The girls are great at understanding this. They understand that whatever they argue about today, toaster strudel icing, time on Netflix or a sweater, it will be over soon. They truly love each other. They understand that they will always have each other and they will always take care of each other.

We must learn to get off the ride. Let them ride the ride. Don’t get scared. It will all be over soon.