Joy on the Journey

Parker is the kind of guy who enjoys his leisure time. Lying on our bed, watching TV is his idea of the perfect Sunday afternoon. However, his dad had other plans for him. He needed him to mulch up the leaves in the front yard. Parker didn't complain...he just started to get ready.

I was sitting in the chair, making a grocery list, while Parker turned dressing warmly into a 30 minute James Bond vignette.

He lay his coveralls on the floor and rolled around, sliding into them a centimeter at a time, grunting and frowning as if he had just been shot and was crawling back to the bunker.

Then he s-l-o-w-l-y zipped them up...

all the way to his chin, dramatically grimacing and panting (and clearly enjoying himself).

Until he had finally conquered the life-threatening challenge and was ready to defeat the leaves and ride off into the sunset on his mower...a hero.

How often do I approach my to-do list with grumbling and grouching...making the job twice as hard because I'm hating it the whole time and I'm just mad that so much has to get done. How much nicer to prepare with singleness of mind...making it into something fun. Yes, it took him as long to get ready as it would have taken him to finish the whole front yard. But what else would he be doing? I'd rather see him acting out his own imaginary movie than sitting in front of one on tv. And his job did get done before the sun went down. I hope he keeps this ability to have some joy on his journey.

That's my kid!

As I was doing parent teacher conferences I often got skeptical looks from the parents when I showed them the pluses in the behavior column of their child's report card. "Are you talking about my kid?" they would ask incredulously. They couldn't believe that the whiny, forgetful, rambunctious child they knew could be quiet and compliant and responsible at school.
And I have to admit, sometimes I'm the same way. Living with my children, I see all of their warts and blunders and sometimes I expect too much. So it's really nice when other people let me know when they see my children being wonderful.
A lady who helped out at the church Harvest Festival bragged on Parker. She said he and his friend helped her carry things and clean up afterwards. He was polite and respectful. And his dad and I weren't even there! So he did it without being prompted. I was so proud of him.
Then several people told me how wonderful Hillary was in the skit she was in for a revival service. And a young, newly married couple commended her for staying in her skirt and not changing back into jeans like so many other youth who help out with the music on the platform at church. I know how hard that was for her!
Things like this make my heart burst with pride and joy. We've tried to instill godly values into our children, but ultimately, it's up to them whether or not they live them out. And it's great to know that they are growing into responsible, respectful, and reasonable young people.

The Votes Are In

Our elementary school held a mock election yesterday. Each student got to vote for president using the computer. So today, we wrote about it in our journals.
Here are some of their thoughts: (I edited the spelling, but left a few of my faves just for fun!)

"I voted for Barack Obama because my holl (whole) family voted for him."
"I voted for Barack Obama because I like him. He is a united Amerucn."
"I voted for John McCain because John McCain is old and he would know more."
"I voted Barack Obama because I want he to be the president."
"I voted for Brk Bomm. He likes chili with crackers."
"I voted for John McCain because he looks like George Washington."
"I voted for Barack Obama because he is nice. Because he plays basketball."
"I voted for John McCain because he is nice."
"I voted for Barack Obama because he is good."
"I voted for Broc Obamu because he duz not kill babys." (Wow)

We actually had quite a bit of discussion about baby killing...and the war. I'm all for exposing the kids to the democratic process and how it works, but these are not conversations I really want to have with my first graders. They can't even tie their shoes.
If there were a proposition on the ballot to keep children innocent, I'd vote yes.

What's the Rush?

After a good Sunday morning service, a great lunch with friends, and coffee and chocolate chip cookies, Hillary and I sat down at the computer so she could show me the latest pictures she'd found of potential prom dress patterns. I asked her if she'd mind if I checked my email really quick. Of course she didn't. So I clicked and entered passwords and clicked again...and waited...and jiggled my leg...and tapped my fingers...and shook the mouse around.
Hillary looked at me and said, "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere, why?"
"Well, what's the rush?"
And she is so right. I tend to be the kind of person who reads while she watches tv, does a crossword puzzle while she cooks, and makes the grocery list during church services. Why? I don't know. I just do it without thinking. I constantly feel as though if I'm not going so fast I can't breathe then I must be forgetting to do something. Something really important that I'll be sorry for later. But regardless of my breathless vigilance, we occasionally run out of toilet paper or pay a bill late. And the world doesn't end.
Thank goodness I have children to remind me of that.

Scary

It's Halloween.
And even scarier than me wearing Parker's Damon Bailey basketball jersey to school and walking through the elementary parade carrying one of my student's fake-blood-filled hearts (which also happened to be leaking all over my hand), is the fact that my son is getting texts from a girl called "Rock".
He's been 13 for five minutes!
My husband saw the phone vibrate where it lay on the bar in the kitchen. He picked it up, but neither of us knew how to view the message. (It's a new phone). So I took it to Parker and said, "How do you view your texts?"
He just looked at me and said, "Why?"
WHY?
"Because I want to view your texts, that's why!"
He showed me and I quickly scanned all 9 texts he's gotten in the last week and saw nothing inappropriate. "Rock" just wanted to know if he was coming to the football game. He wasn't. He wanted to go to the youth group's Harvest Festival bonfire thing.
The fact that "Rock"s text didn't change his mind only gives me small comfort. There is probably some cute young thing at the bonfire! I knew I should have made him dress up as the Wart-Faced Man. Oh well...Maybe the fact that he put his dirty underwear back on after his shower "I turned them wrong-side out, mom!" will keep the girls at bay for now.
Dirty underwear...now THAT's scary!

13

Do I have to change my blog name, now that my baby has turned 13?

Family Closeness

My car is sick. It has been for a couple of weeks now, but just like I do with my kids, I waited it out to see if it would go away on it's own. Of course, it only got worse. So I called to get an appointment with the closest Hyundai dealership/service place (an hour away), only to be told that they could not get it in on Friday (one of the few days off I have) and would look at it on Monday morning. Since I have to be at work on Monday morning, my husband decided we'd have to take it in on Friday and leave it for them. There would be no dropping it off Sunday evening in their lot and leaving the keys in the car. He wanted to hand the keys to a live person...leaving me carless and totally dependent on him for at least the next 5 days. Our only other vehicle is his Chevy S10 truck...which is a stick shift...which I can't drive. Oh well, it can't be that bad, right? I'll just have an excuse to spend more time with him.
Did I mention that the seating capacity in this truck is about the size of a large suitcase? When we bought it Hillary was a scrawny little girl and Parker was just a toddler. We all fit neatly across the seat on the test drive, and we thought "This is great! And we have the car, so we won't all need to ride in it very often. But if we do, we can manage."
Can I just say that the only one who hasn't grown in this family is me.
So this morning, we all piled in together to go to church. Being the smallest, I was assigned the sliver of seat by the door...one cheek on Hillary's lap and another cheek pressed against the window. Parker squished in between his dad and sister, legs tangling up with high heels as the stick shift jutted dangerously close to the Temple Family Legacy Maker. The only one who looked comfortable was the driver...silent and sun-glassed.
But we made the best of it...
Mile 1 - "Mom, could you tighten your butt muscles so your bone won't poke so hard into my thigh?"
Mile 3 - "I'm hot!" We turned the "air conditioner" on medium...which means we cracked the window a little more.
Mile 7 - "Hillary, get your high heel out from between my toes!"
Mile 7 1/2 - "Parker, did you remember to put on deodorant today?"
Mile 10 - "I can't feel my foot."
Thank God it's only 11 miles to our church. We arrived, 10 min late, and piled out of that truck like clowns at the circus. Sunday school and church seemed a short reprieve. I think that's the only time I've ever actually wished for Pastor to preach longer. But we managed to get back in the truck and home in one piece, thanks to some yoga moves and olive oil.
Hopefully, that's the last time we all four have to be at the same place at the same time until I can get my car back.
But at least I can say, with honesty, that we are a "tight-knit family"!