This morning I was sitting on the couch with the kids all around me when, on my kindle, I opened up a video birthday greeting from my sister. Four candles danced around singing "Happy Birthday". After we watched it a few times, I asked the kids who's birthday it was.
No one knew, so I told them it was mine.
Silence. No "Happy Birthday, Mom!". No birthday hugs. No racing to the craft drawer to make a homemade card.
And finally, Reggie: "Mom, are you going to share your cake?"
Thankfully, Daddy came home with an ice cream cake for me to share.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
quote of the day
Reggie's breakfast blessing:
"Thank you for hockey and I love hockey. Thank you for the football team. Amen."
And another one from Reggie a few days ago:
Our discipline approach always follows the same pattern. Once the child has served his consequence, I/Bryan say "You got a/lost your [whatever the consequence was] for [whatever the child did]. It is not okay to [whatever the child did]. Do you understand?"
Reggie has received many a consequence and has gone through this same ritual many, many times. So, it threw me for a loop when he looked at me and asked,
"What does understand mean?"
Oops!
"Thank you for hockey and I love hockey. Thank you for the football team. Amen."
And another one from Reggie a few days ago:
Our discipline approach always follows the same pattern. Once the child has served his consequence, I/Bryan say "You got a/lost your [whatever the consequence was] for [whatever the child did]. It is not okay to [whatever the child did]. Do you understand?"
Reggie has received many a consequence and has gone through this same ritual many, many times. So, it threw me for a loop when he looked at me and asked,
"What does understand mean?"
Oops!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
the age of innocence
Today after the kids and I had watched enough football for a beautiful sunny day, we meandered over to the playground in the neighborhood. The kids quickly joined in playing with some other kids, who were a little older than my kids, and I'm guessing probably siblings.
Odd considering her gene pool, Lydia is always the most eager to get acquainted. "This is my brother Brett, and I'm Lydia, and this is my other brother Reggie," she proudly announced.
"These your brothers?" responded the boy of 7 or 8 years.
"Yeah, this is my brother Brett, and I'm Lydia, and this is my other brother Reggie," she repeated.
"No, these your brothers?," the boy asked again, not satisfied with her answer.
Again, this time her tone showed slight annoyance, yet complete oblivion to what the boy was really asking, "Yes, this is Brett, and this is Reggie."
And that was that. The conversation was interrupted by an acrobatic trick from the boy's little sister, and the kids kept playing together until it was time to go.
I liked Lydia's answers. I hope she will always be so matter-of-fact and to-the-point.
But I know this age of innocence will not last. Before long, boys will have cooties, and she won't want to marry Reggie, and when I ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she will say something like, "a veterinarian" instead of "a princess". And she will realize that not everyone believes Jesus fills your heart with love and helps you make right choices. She will discover that not everyone wants to be her friend. She will learn that some people will judge her because she wears hand-me-downs, or likes the Packers, or has two brothers who don't look like her.
So, I will enjoy this age of innocence for the season it is and allow her awareness to come as it does. In the meantime, maybe she can enlightened an 8-year-old or two.
Odd considering her gene pool, Lydia is always the most eager to get acquainted. "This is my brother Brett, and I'm Lydia, and this is my other brother Reggie," she proudly announced.
"These your brothers?" responded the boy of 7 or 8 years.
"Yeah, this is my brother Brett, and I'm Lydia, and this is my other brother Reggie," she repeated.
"No, these your brothers?," the boy asked again, not satisfied with her answer.
Again, this time her tone showed slight annoyance, yet complete oblivion to what the boy was really asking, "Yes, this is Brett, and this is Reggie."
And that was that. The conversation was interrupted by an acrobatic trick from the boy's little sister, and the kids kept playing together until it was time to go.
I liked Lydia's answers. I hope she will always be so matter-of-fact and to-the-point.
But I know this age of innocence will not last. Before long, boys will have cooties, and she won't want to marry Reggie, and when I ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she will say something like, "a veterinarian" instead of "a princess". And she will realize that not everyone believes Jesus fills your heart with love and helps you make right choices. She will discover that not everyone wants to be her friend. She will learn that some people will judge her because she wears hand-me-downs, or likes the Packers, or has two brothers who don't look like her.
So, I will enjoy this age of innocence for the season it is and allow her awareness to come as it does. In the meantime, maybe she can enlightened an 8-year-old or two.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
first day of school
Last night at supper we challenged Brett that if he could tell us the names of 3 friends, we would all have ice cream cones for desert tonight. Reggie and Lydia really like ice cream cones, so he was feeling the pressure. "Riley" was a freebie because she was in his class last year. "Erik" seemed legit, and I'm pretty sure he made "Emily" up - but the fact that he tried seemed ice cream cone-worthy. Heck, I went whole school years without making 3 friends...and I'm guessing the same is true for Bryan.
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