I recently bought a new purse. This fact did not go un-noticed by my oldest - Gavin. As we were driving in the van this morning, he evidently had a good vantage point of my purse from his seat. Upon studying it for a few minutes he asks the only logical question, "Mom, don't you already have a purse?"
"Why yes, Honey, I do. You have good observational skills."
"Then why did you want another one?" To a seven year old, the fact that I now have two purses is beyond reason.
"Well, Sweetie, I just liked it. I thought it was pretty. Don't you? Sometimes Mommys like to have different purses for different days." He has yet to know about the 'purse stash' I keep in my closest. If he were to ever find all the other purses I bought because they 'were pretty', he would probably freak out. And yes, I'll be the first to admit, I have a 'purse problem', if that's what you want to call it. I like them. Some women like jewelry, some shoes, others clothes. My vice is purses - pretty ones.
Then, as if an explosive idea just revealed itself to him, he informs me, "That looks like it would be a nice purse to take to Hobby Lobby. And you could take your other purse to the Bank. But I think they would both look good to go to the grocery store with."
"Thank you, Gavin. I love your ideas. I think I would like to take my purse to Hobby Lobby with me." I think I just opened up his world to a whole new horizon. To think that Mommys might use a different purse on a different day. Wow. Life just became a lot more complex now. But I'm glad I have a helper to encourage me in my purse selection for the day now.
This morning I loaded the dishwasher, put it on and left the room. A typical cycle normally lasts about an hour - max. I've also been doing laundry all morning which means I have to walk through the kitchen to get to the laundry room. Every time I walked past the dishwasher, it was still on. I really didn't pay much mind to it. However, after walking past the kitchen with the 4th load of clothes I thought to myself, "...hmmm, shouldn't the dishes be done by now?" It's been like 4 hours by this point. I admit, sometimes I'm not too bright, so it takes me a while to catch on to things.
How was I to know that my little 'helper' (let's call her Chloe), loves to put the dishwasher on - just because she knows how. So, all morning long, anytime she passed it and it wasn't making a noise, she thought she'd 'help' me and turn the dial back on again. How thoughtful. Two thoughts flashed across my mind upon this realization, 1. how long has she been 'helping' me like this? and 2. what in the world is my water bill going to look like? I guess I should be thankful that she's a clean freak like me. At least she wasn't emptying the dishwasher and rubbing peanut butter all over my clean dishes.
Thank you, my dear. Evidently, we have alot of 'training sessions' coming our way in the art of domestic engineering.
I don't know that anyone has heard (or should ever hear) the following types of comments come forth out of the mouth of one of their offspring. These comments in no way reflect the opinions, values, actions or beliefs of the writer. They are entirely original comments from our beloved son, Bennett. I don't even have an explanation for these. I think they speak for themselves....
"Gavin, here's a question. When did you start liking watermelon?"
"Mom. I think I'm going to stop picking my nose now."
"Why is my bottom connected?"
"Gavin, can you please wipe my butt? NOW!"
Two incidents come to mind where Bennett has put me to shame. Both of them this weekend. The first happened today. I had given Chloe a warning regarding her behavior and told her that if she didn't stop, she would have to sit in time-out. She chose to be defiant and thereby, I was forced to make good on my threat. Sadly, I picked my almost 2 year old up and placed her in the time-out chair.
To Bennett, Chloe can do no wrong. She is a princess and he treats her as such. If I dare do something to make the princess cry, I will pay. Today, I paid with a sly little comment that came out of his little, innocent mouth. And it was directed at me, although said to anyone who would listen. He says, "Who ever heard of a baby having to sit in time out before?"
If that was meant to make me feel guilty, it worked.
The second opportunity he had to put me to shame occurred yesterday. I was having a very bad day yesterday. My attitude was in the dumps. Nobody could say or do anything right, it seemed. And it only went from bad to worse. I needed a major attitude adjustment and God knew exactly what would work. A good dose of humility should help.
After a long time of awkward silence while riding in the car, Bennett makes a statement. He declares, "I fink we should do sumfin as a fam-i-ly." This did not bode well with me. The only thing I could think of was the fact that we were on our way home from 'doing something as a family'. We were just at the park, playing our little hearts out. I decided to remind him of that fact, to which he replied, "I didn't mean dat, Mom. I mean, I fink we should fay (pray)." When I asked why he said, "Because it will make us happy again."
How true that is! God used my sensitive little 4 year old to show me how my attitude was hurting everyone around me. And of course Bennett, in his sweet, little way knew exactly what to say.
Bennett loves to come in bed and cuddle us in the mornings. The other morning Chuck & I were laying there discussing a noise we both thought we heard in the middle of the night. Bennett was laying there listening, thinking we were talking to him. I asked Chuck, " What do you think that noise was?" But before Chuck could answer, Bennett replied, "Um, I think that was air coming out of my body." At least he was honest. :) What a fun way to start the day!
As I was doing the dinner dishes tonight, Gavin comes up behind me, gives me a bear hug and hops up onto the counter next to me to chat a while. He informs me, "Mom, I wish every night could be like tonight." I was a little clueless as to why tonight rated up there in his top 5 favorites. I decided to recite the evening back to him in question form.
"Why? Do you wish you could throw up at the table every night?" We all seemingly had a case of the giggles - but especially Gavin. And to top it off, he was drinking orange soda with his dinner. The giggles hit and whatever was in his mouth came out in full force.
"Or was it the gooey rice I made...you wish we could have that for dinner every night. Is that it?" Yup. My culinary skills are shining once again. I decided I knew enough about making rice that I didn't need to actually measure the water to rice ratio. I guessed wrong. But I now know how to make rice pudding.
"Was it watching Daddy eat a 'Plate-O-Meat'? Would you like to see that every night?" Since the rice was a wash and I didn't have enough leftover mashed potatoes for everyone, poor Daddy ended up with a 'plate-o-meat'. He had grilled chicken and ended up with a huge mass of meat on his plate while the vegetables were sitting in a nearby bowl (he hates his food to touch). He looked like some Medival King sitting down to eat his prey.
Of course, Gavin is laughing so hard at this point, I'm afraid he's going to fall off the counter. Yet, I continue. "Was it because it is the middle of January, in the dead of winter and we were out playing in the park in shorts and sandals?" That's Texas for ya. It was in the mid-80's today. Not that I'm complaining...I just find that a bit odd. Don't you?
Gavin decided he'd had enough and let me in on the mystery of why this was such a perfect night, "Mom, it was just fun. That's all." I have to agree, Gavin. It was fun. One thing is a constant in our house and that is dinner time. We ALWAYS sit at the table to eat together and you NEVER know what to expect. Thankfully, tonight, the laughter was louder than the whining.
