A Conversation With My Son

Today my children were cleaning up my son's bedroom because both of them had been party to the mess. In the midst of their work, they had a spat. Hannah yelled at Seth. Seth then yelled to inform me that:

"Hannah's mad at me and I didn't do anything!"

Sometimes I intervene. Sometimes I ignore it because I want them to work it out.

Tonight, rightfully or wrongfully, I ignored them.

A little later while his sister was otherwise occupied, Seth informed me of *what really happened*.

"Mom, did you know that Hannah was mad at me, and I didn't do anything to deserve it?" he emphasized.

"Oh?" I said. "If I were to ask Hannah to tell me her side of the story, what do you think she would tell me?"

He thought for a little bit. "She would tell you that she was folding a blanket," he replied.

"And.....?" I asked.

"And while she was folding her blanket, I blew at it," he answered.

"What happened when you blew at it? What would she tell me then?"

"She would tell you that it made her have a hard time folding it," he stated. Then, realizing his error, he added quickly: "But I didn't know it would be a problem!"

We had a chat about his less-than-honest plea of ignorance, but I will confess to really enjoying this conversation. He thought through the issue from another perspective and ended up spilling the beans.

Think I'll try that method more often.

Thankful

It's been a while. We've been busy.....are having awesome church.....and I think perhaps many of my stories are repetitious. Sometimes I think I should "rant" about something (the Lord knows that I have MANY opinions), then I wonder who in the world will care about my opinion anyway....:)

So I just haven't blogged.

I'm sure eventually that I'll come out of my mini-hiatus. But for now, I will say that God is doing amazing things in our church. He's doing great things in my family. I'm very excited about the future.

In short, I'm thankful.

Flyer Adventures II

I think some of the best memories I'll have of this stage of life with my kids will have happened during our flyer route. When you deliver flyers three times a week on the same route, you must get creative to fight off boredom.

I have mention before that the kids like to race our mail carrier, Kelly. She is such a good sport. I've told her she reminds me of Wooten (mailman in Adventures in Odyssey), because he once lost his job for taking too long to deliver the mail every day. All the little old ladies along his route would wait for Wooten to come because they had some sort of task for him, which he very good naturedly carried out. Kelly has told us how she has gone in for "just a few minutes" into a lady's house because she wanted to show her dogs, and ended up staying for tea, leaving 45 minutes later. That is the kind of sweet lady she is. Anyway, the kids wait anxiously every time we go out, hoping we will meet up with Kelly, because if we do, there will always be some great adventure along with a little visit.

There are certain houses we label with names. There are games the kids come up with. For instance, one house has a tree that has little red berries on it. The berries always cover the sidewalk - thus the house is called the Berry House. At the Berry House, the kids always play the Berry Game. The Berry Game quite simply is trying to avoid stepping on any berry while delivering the flyer, which at times is impossible. However, Seth and Hannah attempt it every time, and sometimes there is even a winner.

Then there are the Dog Houses. There are several Dog Houses on our route. Most of them have the dogs behind the fence with the BIG SIGN of warning. We talk to the dogs as much as possible in a kind voice to let them know we are their friends. However, most of them let us know we are on their property and don't appreciate it.

There is one house, however, that is the ultimate DOG HOUSE. For in this house lives a 160 pound Newfoundland dog. I know this because this dog and owner were outside one day and we got to meet this dog..........from about 50 feet away. He told us he was very friendly, and although he had a huge BOW WOW, he meant well. However, 160 pounds on top of my 50 and 65 pound children would spell disaster, so even though the mutt is friendly, we still shiver and shake in our imaginations.

This house has a big front door and right beside it a thick pane of glass. Every time one of us delivers the flyer to this house, the big DOG jumps up on the pane of glass and barks.......

BOW WOW!!!!

(literally folks, it sounds like that)

and scares the living daylight out of whoever the lucky candidate has been to deliver the paper. Even though we prepare ourselves, the bark is enough to make my own heart skip a few beats.

Well, my son has recently decided he wants to deliver the flyer to the DOG HOUSE. He gamely tells me he is not afraid, and impressively, he has done so for several weeks now. Every time he walks down the sidewalk, before he turns into the yard, he has a chat with himself.....

"YOU'RE NOT GONNA SCARE ME, YOU OLD DOG! HA! I'M NOT SCARED!"

and it has me in stitches. I am so tickled that even though it scares him a bit, he is determined to go up the stairs to the DOG HOUSE and deliver that flyer.

One day a few weeks ago, he walked down the sidewalk to begin his journey. He began his usual muttering.

"I'M NOT SCARED, YOU OLD DOG!!"......he cautiously approaches the front door......."YOU'RE NOT GONNA SCARE ME YOU.......

AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

I was practically on the ground laughing. For whatever reason, no matter how much he psyched himself up, this time when the DOG jumped up it scared the living daylights out of him!

To his credit, he still delivers to the DOG HOUSE. I sadistically look forward to going to this house every time, if only to hear his mutters.

All in all, delivering flyers has been a great experience. The kids get exercise. They earn money, for which we get to teach great lessons in money management. They get to meet and talk to people regularly on the route.

And we get to laugh ourselves silly. It's all good.

My Little Johnny

See My Little Johnny? Doesn't he look sweet?

My Little Johnny got sent upstairs today from Sunday School. He disobeyed one teacher twice and another once. I could hear My Little Johnny screaming in the sanctuary (he was in the stairwell leading downstairs, a bit of a distance off). Little Johnny's dad went down to lend a hand. My Little Johnny - after he walked through the valley of the shadow of death - slithered into the sanctuary, totally embarrassed.

Even though I am writing this in a humorous style, I really don't find it funny. I've been gearing up for boot camp, which I was going to begin tomorrow, because I've understood that if My Little Johnny is a disobedient child, then I am directly responsible as the main parent (as in disciplinarian because I'm with him all day). I accept that responsibility. After seeking resources, I finally feel like I know what I am going to do to change the situation - and so tomorrow a *whole new life will begin*.

Daddy told his Little Johnny that he will be apologizing to his teachers this evening. My Little Johnny nodded in agreement.....then said:

"But I'm going to tell them not to tell ANYONE ELSE...."

Obviously My Little Johnny already forgot that *everyone* knows.......he made sure of that by his shrieks and by slithering into the sanctuary. The only child in the sanctuary. Like, duh.

I'll end this by saying that My Little Johnny has been sick with a cold, which prompted another *famous* question.....or should I say two questions:

"Mom, do germs get fevers? Do they get sick and throw up?"

I apologize to those who do not find his questions funny. However, since this blog is my only method currently of recording some of his sayings, I will be posting them. I happen to find most of his questions side-splittingly funny and I really do want to remember them.

So now I sign off........to prepare for boot camp.

Five Important Qualities

I have recently completed the book To Train Up A Child, by Debi and Michael Peart. I hope to blog about this common sense advice on child rearing at some point. What prompted this post was found in the last pages of this book. Michael Peart wrote a letter to his two sons, who were then 17 and 15 years of age. Paraphrased, these are the qualities he advised his sons to look for in a Christian wife, in order of importance:

1. That she love the Lord and be His true disciple. That she knows how to pray. No argument there from any Christian.

2. That she be cheerful. A girl who is unhappy and discontent before marriage will NOT suddenly change afterward. No man can make a discontented woman happy. A woman who does not find joy from a wellspring within will not find it in the difficulties and trials of marriage and motherhood.

3. That she is thankful. When a young girl is unthankful toward her family or her circumstances, a change of environment and/or relationships is not going to make her thankful. Avoid a moody, unhappy, unthankful girl. If she is not full of the joy of living before marriage, she most certainly will not be afterward.

4. That she be a creative, hard worker. This speaks for itself. She should not be lazy or slothful.

5. That she love children. Needless to say, raising a family will be extremely difficult if the woman does not have a love for children.

Lest one thinks he is being too critical of women, he did go on to admonish his sons on the proper care and nurturing of their wife, which was true and excellent advice.

I think most of us {old married women-folk} would have listed some of these. What struck me the most, however, was number 2 and 3, and the fact that they were in that order. It's not that I didn't think these qualities were important, I just didn't think they would have made the Top Five list of so many things that "seem" important.

But I think I've just changed my mind. I want my home to be full of joy and cheer. And I never want to lose my thankfulness.

Most of all.......if I want my daughter to have these qualities, I must lead by example.