Homework

Seriously? Of all the pictures to illustrate our desert climate, this is what he chooses? I'm pretty sure we should have just let it go to school. I'm not sure which was better the look on Shaun's face when he brought it to me, or Nate's when the explanation clicked.

Miss Manners

"Mom, you may as well stop trying to teach me manners, I'm going to have to learn them from my future girlfriends who leave the table in disgust."

Distinction

"I feel like I will be moving from my home to a house."

Change

"I'm sad, usually I'm happy when I go down and see all the balloons and this time I wasn't." Nate age 9

Perseverance

We three took on Bates Nut Farm on our own this year. Gorgeous day with the all the usual festivities, save the ponies. They were there, but Nate said he was done with them; he only rides horses now, thank you very much.

After the tractor ride, rock climbing, frisbee painting, and tri tip eating; finally, it was time to choose our squash.

The rule is always the same, you can choose any pumpkin, as long as you can pick it up and put it into the wheelbarrow.

And so began our journey across the picked through patch.

It turned out to be a longer than usual afternoon.

Complete with a lost and later (thankfully) found cell phone.

Have I ever mentioned that when Nate puts his mind to something, there's not much that can dissuade him from his goal?

Most of the time, it's a beautiful thing.

I spend more time negotiating than is probably wise.

My last negotiation cost me a new betta fish, but landed me two free weeks of pet feeding and poop pick up with nary a complaint.

I became fearful that this negotiation was going to land us in the hospital for a hernia, but I hung back and let him do his thing. I busied myself losing my phone and looking for the perfect butternut speciman; slightly overripe and sweet, but not, you know, rotten.

I was told several times, "this was not the time for photos".

There aren't many times that are the time for photos it seems.

I have to negotiate for those too.

I'm pretty sure he indulged me a few because he was working out his own negotiation.

There was no way this child was not going to get one of those "Big Mac" pumpkins in our wheelbarrow.

He knew all along that he wasn't going to pick up the pumpkin he wanted.

He also knows what suckers we are.

Sometimes I'm too easy, sometimes too difficult and sometimes just crazy.

But I'm pretty okay with flexing the boundaries in response to hard work and perseverance. Plus, you should have seen his face.

It was pretty fantastic.

Boy to Boy

"You may be scared, but you're also brave"

Nate, age 8

Walking and Talking

It's been about a year ago that Nate told me I was the best mom a kid could ever have, except his wife of course.  Sheesh, not even a Momma's boy when he was seven, I must be doing something wrong.

A few weeks ago we were coming home from walking the dog and he proceeded on down the alley on his bike as I put Cooper in the fence.

"Honey, are you going to ride in the alley for awhile?" No response.

"Yo Nate, I'm going in to make dinner, are you going to stay out here?" No response.

"Nate, if you're going to stay out you need to answer me and tell me you'll be on the lookout for cars."

Finally he looks up, hits the brakes on his old bike too hard, lunges forward, looks up at me, and goes down.

Somehow, I feel responsible and run over to him, and try to figure a way to untangle him from the bike. I don't have the heart to tell him to get himself up as I have been doing lately in an effort to help him break the habit he has of just laying there when he goes down. I'm repaid with kindness:

"You're the worst, it's all your fault. You're the worst mom ever."

After cleaning him up and having dinner, the storm seemed to have settled so I took a chance, "Hey, why do you suppose you were saying those things to me when you fell on your bike earlier?

"You know, because you distracted me and made me fall by talking to me and you know, I was panicked and didn't know what to do, so of course I blamed you.

Today we walked at sunset and he talked and talked about all the things we should do every day, or every week.  We should go on a long twenty mile bike ride every weekend and we should take Cooper on a long hike every day.  I suggested a walk around the neighborhood might have to do most evenings, he swooned and said, "Yeah, then you and Dad can take walks in the moonlight together."

"You know, I think you're gonna make someone a good husband someday."

"So you think I'm gonna get married?"

"Sure, if that's what you want."

"Well I have four girls who like me and seven who don't, so I need to get to work practicing to make more girls like me."

"You have plenty of time for that.  Plus, remember it's not just about whether they like you, it's whether you like them.  In fact, when you get older and start dating, that's what it's all about.  Learning the qualities you most like and those that you don't.  Eventually, you'll meet someone that has most of the qualities that you like and then maybe you'll decide to get married."

"I know Mom", he says, "but mostly it's up to the girls, because if they decide they like someone, they just dress up all pretty, and basically they've built themselves an arrow."