Motherhood

Getting to the Heart of the Ring Pop

April 25, 2013

in more than meets the eye,Motherhood

The kids were outside playing and I took a few minutes to prep lunch and wash a few dishes.  As I walked by the back door, I saw my youngest sitting in a box on the deck.

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How cute I thought and went to grab the camera.

My little man spotted me.

I went back to my chores and then noticed he had moved.

This time he was on the other side of the door and had set up a barricade with another box.

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Having the wool pulled over my eyes by him before, I decided to stop and watch.

Clearly he did not want me to do this.

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I realize these pictures look a little blurry.  This is not because of a fault in the camera.  It’s because my windows are quite filthy.  But, if you can get past the grime, what do you see?

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A ring pop.

Now, I have to tell you that I had no problem with him eating a ring pop.  It was his and he had gotten it in his goody bag last weekend.  He had even asked if he could take his goody bag outside.  (He didn’t ask if he could have a ring pop, but I assumed he would partake of said pop before long).

My issue is that he apparently thinks he can’t have the ring pop and he is eating it anyway.  And the reason I know he thinks he can’t have it is because he is going to great lengths to try and hide the ring pop from me.

I let this scenario play out for awhile to see where it would lead. 

A little while later he put the ring pop down in the box and came inside… sticky hands and all.

I asked him what he was doing in the back yard.

“What I doing?”

Yes… what were you doing outside?

“playing on the playground”

“Really?  You were playing on the playground?”

“Yes”

“What else were you doing?”

hesitation… not meeting my eyes “just playing”

“What were you doing in the box?”

no answer

“What were you doing in the box on the deck?”

breaking eye contact  and no answer

“Why are your hands sticky?”

Still no answer

FINALLY, after more questioning and more lying, I was able to get to the heart of the issue and get him to tell me the truth.   I explained to him that not telling me the truth was a lie.  And lying is wrong.  And because he lied he couldn’t have the ring pop. 

I don’t think he really understood all of what I was saying, but it opened my eyes to the need to be more observant to the teachable moments in his life.  And it reminded me of the state of his heart.  Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

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Animal Stories

April 23, 2013

in Darndest Things,story writing

My 5 year old decided she wanted to write a book yesterday.  She wanted it to be a collection of stories about animals.  So, she asked if I would write what she said up on our dry erase board so that she could copy them into her book. 

Here is what she said:

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I have to wonder how many different ways a cat licks.  They all look the same to me.

And I always thought dogs had better hearing than cats.  It appears in her book dogs are only good at eating.

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Sometimes I forget

April 17, 2013

in Motherhood

Since birth she’s always been trying to keep up with the older two.  And most of the time,  because she can hold her own with them, I think of her and treat her like she’s older than she really is. 

One night last week as we went in to peek on her before going to bed we saw her sleeping in her bed with her stuffed animals and dolls lying all around her… it was a little nest of sorts with her in the middle of her beloved toys.  “This is the stuff we’ll forget,”  Scott whispered to me.  When she gets older, we’ll forget these little cute things like her sleeping in a pool of baby dolls and fuzzy friends.

I forget sometimes that she’s still just 5. 

And then she does stuff like this and I chuckle and remember she’s still just 5.

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Scott found this bowl of water on her bed Monday morning.  What in the world was she doing with a bowl full of water on her bed he started to ask. 

“It’s for my whale Daddy.  It’s his home.”

Of course… she got a whale toy in her happy meal on Sunday… and of course… since whales live in water, she put it in a bowl of water… and since she was so excited about her new toy, she brought it to bed with her.  And since she is 5, this seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do.

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Oh, how I love her, and her reminders that’s she still  just 5.

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Love and Marriage

April 1, 2013

in Darndest Things,marriage

I remember when my son was in kindergarten he came home and told me he asked a girl in his class to marry him.  “What did she say?”  I responded. “No. So I told her,why don’t we wait till we are older to decide.”   I cautioned him that should he ever want to propose again, he should talk to us first and then talk to the girls parents first.

I remember this so vividly b/c I knew, I knew there would come a day when he would balk at such a discussion.

And apparently that day fell somewhere in the third grade.  I don’t remember when, but sometime this year, kissing and girls and love and marriage all became totally disgusting to him.  Watching Mom or Dad give each other a quick peck is one of the most horrible, grossest sights known to man…. or at least this 8 year old man.  

And I know, just like I knew back in kindergarten that it won’t be like this forever. 

However, his little sister doesn’t know this. 

One night as she was getting ready for bed she started crying and said, “Oh Mommy what are we going to do?  What will “my brother”  do if he’s all alone with no one to love him?  If he never gets married, who will he have to love him and be with him?”  I assured my tearful 5 year old that if he decides to never get married, he’ll still have us.  He won’t be all alone b/c we will still love and care for him. 

Then this weekend at my parents I heard her telling my Dad how her brother “is never going to get married b/c he doesn’t want to kiss…But, I definitely do want to get married!”  To which my dad reiterated that neither of them needed to worry about getting married right now.   

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EEEK!  I can just tell this girl is going to give me trouble.

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Mr. Clean Once Again Proves Himself to be a Worthy tool in the Arsenal of Motherhood

March 21, 2013

in Circus Shots,home school,Keeping it Real,Motherhood

I don’t really know what it is that possesses a child to just randomly on a whim pick up that crayon and suddenly decide to make the world (or in this case the bathroom) his canvas.  We have crayons out every single day in our house.  I do my best when I see a stray one on the floor to nab it lest it suddenly look inviting to my toddler.  But, truly they are laying on the school table, in reach, every single day. 

And pretty much most of the time, he leaves them be.  Or colors on paper or his coloring books.  It’s not like every day I find him scribbling on my walls.  (for if I did, you better believe I wouldn’t be leaving those crayons lying about)

So, what was it today that made that blue crayon call out to him? 

What possessed him to literally paint the down blue?

It was a classic homeschooling momma moment.  One child was practicing piano, the other working on a handwriting sheet (lest this sound picture perfect, let me tell you that the child not on the piano was loudly complaining that the piano was too loud and she couldn’t concentrate).  “Great, I thought… I’ll run up and grab the  sheets off his bed so I can throw them in the wash, while they bicker do their assignments”  As I started up the stairs, I noticed my 2 year old scribbling on my dining room chair.  He noticed me too, b/c he instantly stopped, tried to cover it up and smiled sweetly at me.

Great, I thought. Forget the sheets… and the bickering… I’ve got another problem to tackle. 

As I confronted him about what he was doing he lied… so as I confronted him about lying and coloring on my furniture, I noticed he smelled a little funny too… as I checked his pants, I noticed he was missing his underwear… I then thought to myself, “shoot I don’t think I followed up on him when he went to the potty awhile ago”  (I told you this was a classic homeschooling Momma moment… this is the real deal… not the Norman Rockwell version)  So I went to the bathroom to grab a wipe and noticed soap running down the wall outside the bathroom… taking a deep breath, I opened the bathroom to find this.

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and thisIMG_0110

and this

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and this

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and this

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Blue crayon on the wall, toilet seat, toilet bowl, toilet lid, toilet paper, and bathroom sink. 

Clearly I was right and never followed up on him after I put him in the bathroom awhile ago… who knows when that was…

As I grabbed the magic eraser (which works on walls AND on porcelain by the way) he turned his back to me and wouldn’t admit his wrong doing. 

I didn’t have him scrub it up b/c I knew that would be a reward for him, so he sat and I scrubbed. 

It was therapeutic actually. 

Finally, after an incredibly, long time… he conceded that it was him and finally I got him to apologize.  Meanwhile in the background there was the ever pleasant, piano, no piano debate going on. 

All I can say is 1 more day till Spring Break!!!!!!!! 

And this momma/teacher needs it in a MAJOR way!

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Tee Shirt Love

March 15, 2013

in Circus Dad,Darndest Things,marriage,Motherhood,Wife

Scott has been a huge help and support to me this week… taking time off of work so I can rest up (apparently surgery takes more out of you, then you anticipate)… driving the kids to their activities, helping with school, and meals and cleaning up… So, today, I thought I’d show my appreciation and wear my “My Husband Rocks” tee shirt. 

My 7 year old looked at my shirt, read it aloud and said, “So, why did you wear that today?”  I told her I just wanted to say thanks to Daddy for all his help this week while I was healing.

Hmmmm.  she replied, “So, why don’t you have a ‘My Kids Rock’ tee shirt?”

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