Good Morning Sunshine

630am

Me: Good morning, Nate. Please stop working in the office and go get dressed for school so we can walk Cooper before breakfast.

Nate: Okay, but, Mom, I didn't want to tell Sam the advice from that slip of paper yesterday, (her fortune cookie indicated she would receive important advice from a child) but now I'm going to mail her this (bullet pointed list):

Inmportant edvice
*be peaceful
*Use less oil
*check your smoke detectors
*Have more fire drills
*Walk (Cooper) more
*Walk more (you)
*have communitty warnings louder
*be thuoghtful
*obey the golden rule
*obey laws and rules
*don't wake your mom up! ("this one is for Jarrah.")
*wake your mom up if a passout
*don't choose to live in Jail.
*don't choose to shoot.
*have choosing freinds (meaning have lots of friends.)
*Have Home SECUIRTY

7:30am walking the dog

Nate: Mom, do you think you will ever decide what religion you are?

Me: I don't know, I see great Truths in several of them.

Nate: Well, we are Jewish and Christian. You know, because we celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. Eva doesn't believe in God, but I do, and I believe in Jesus Christ. I'm confused though, how is Jesus Christ the son of God, but Mary was married to that other guy? And how did she know she had a baby in there anyway?


Me: Stories from the Bible can be confusing; there are lots of miracles that really have no logical explanation.

Nate: I am not going to celebrate Islam because I am not kissing a stone, and going to that place would cost a lot of money, so I'm not going. I would rather go to France.

Me: Cooper, quit pulling me...yes, honey, Mecca would be a long way to go wouldn't it?

Nate: I think we might also celebrate Hinduism because you believe in Shiva and I believe in that elephant with four arms. But let's not celebrate the part that we can't pick our own jobs and the part about the slaves coming from someone's feet. Buddhism (pronounced booty-ism) is better for that part, but I am not shaving my head and I will shake my booty.

Me: Shake, shake, shake...shake, shake, shake; shake your booty...That sounds good, did you bring a poop bag?

745am Breakfast and packing lunches

Nate: Mom, how come white people were better than colorful people? (MLK holiday has been prominent in his awareness this year.)

Me: They weren't, Buddy. The people that thought so were wrong.

Nate: Then how come Martin had to go to jail? Did Rosa also go to jail? Cooper is kinda like Rosa because he doesn't do what he's told either.

Me: The laws were different and wrong about segregation back then. Cooper, on the other hand, needs some basic manners, regardless of his color or breed.

Nate: How do guns kill, Mom?

Me: I think we need to wake up your father. Did you see what I did with my coffee?

Nate: How do they, Mom?

Me: If a bullet enters a body, it could pierce a vital organ like a heart, causing it to stop working which would then cause death. Please drink your milk and clear your dishes.

830am

Me: Okay, teeth and hair then you have "free choice" till it's time to go to school. Maybe you'd like to watch some TV.

Nate: When I grow up, I am getting rid of all the guns. If we need to have a war, then we will use points instead of guns. How do you know when a war is over anyway?

Me: I think the points system is a great idea...Shaaauuuunnn...

Nate: How do you know, Mom?

Me: When both sides are ready to compromise. Where is your father? Is Johnny Test on? I have to get ready for work.

Sometimes I’m exhausted by the time the spray of the shower hits my face in the morning. Nate is a morning person, and he’s pretty much turned me into one too over these last (almost) seven years. I do love the very occasional morning that I am up first and get a cup of coffee in the dark and quiet solitude. I had such a morning recently, it was lovely but the best part was when my sleepy boy finally came down the steps and silently crawled into my lap for a long snug. It reminded me of the first time he slept through the night. I was wide awake at the normal 5am and so wired and excited he had slept, that I couldn’t go back to sleep myself. Plus, I missed him.

I am a lucky, lucky mom to get to be home and hang with my boy every morning. As much as it may wear me out at times, I'm honored and grateful to hear all the many directions his brain is moving. Maybe I'll figure a way to stop nagging him one of these days. Because really, it’s no wonder he can’t put his shirt on the proper direction the first time, he’s got a lot on his mind.

The luxuries in our lives have been far curtailed, but this one, this time together is one I'll hold onto for as long as I can.

In case you were wondering...

"We can't kill our pets and make them into boots ya know."


(This was a residual comment a few days after visiting the reptile house at the zoo.)Slightly awkward that this post follows the one remembering Jasper who we lost in December 07. I better talk to Nathan about the sequence of his comments, doesn't he know I'm recording some of this stuff?!?!)

Learning Lessons--in your face

We all have lessons to learn in life and one that Shaun sometimes has a tough time with is admitting when he might, possibly, could be...wrong. This is likely my own incorrect perception; afterall, years ago he humbly informed me that he would be happy to admit he was wrong, just as soon as he was. Seriously. Thank goodness he and I alike have lightened up on that whole thing, though my mouth is still agape in disbelief that he ever said it; mostly, I find it pretty humorous these days.

The routine in our home in the evening is that I make dinner while Nathan either helps me, plays, or, if he is lucky, watches television--he loves television. Until now, I have been fortunate enough not to know thoroughly those persons that truly don't hear you when you call to them while they watch, uh, pretty much, anything on tv. Interesting that it bewilders me more than frustrates me, making it so much easier to simply turn the thing off when he doesn't respond.

After dinner Shaun does the dishes and turns on the dishwasher. Often, Nathan wants to help with this activity as well. On this particular evening, Nathan decided to get out the dish detergent and found alongside it, a sample product that had been in that cupboard for some time. He and I had had the conversation more than once about what the product was, our need for it (or lack thereof) and where it was to be deposited in the dishwasher, et cetera. As Nathan went about the process of getting this product out and then attempting to put it in the dishwasher appropriately, Shaun was telling him all the while that we didn't need anymore soap, that that is not where we put it in the machine, etc, etc...

Shaun and I try to be respectful and not contradict one another to Nathan and generally we do pretty well; on this night I found it difficult to get a word in edgewise. When I did find an opening, I gently suggested to Shaun that he might want to look more closely at the product and what Nathan was trying to do with it before he continued to tell him what he was doing was incorrect. Upon doing so, Shaun acknowledged his error out loud, apologized and we all went about finishing up the evening kitchen clean up. In his need to sum things up, Nathan offered the familiar pretense: "I know what the problem is Daddy," and the conclusion, "You're just not really smart."

There was genuine laughter and Shaun said what we were both thinking, "You're doing wonders for my ability to admit I'm wrong, kid!"

The lessons served up by innocent four year olds are so much sweeter and easier to swallow, aren't they? I hope the little one is learning half the lessons I am.