Glass Half Full vs Half Empty

At the dinner table Tara was annoyed that Eric kept finding the good in all of her frustrations.  She looked at him and said with disgust, "Eric, you're such and optimist."

Granddaddy's Advice

When I watch Eric move, I see myself. He can't seem to make it from one side of the house to the other without hitting a wall, stubbing a toe, or causing himself some kind of pain. As he walked past me recently and managed to scrape his foot, I said to him, "Be careful with your body. You only get one." And a memory hit me like a ton of bricks.

When I was about  6 yrs old my granddaddy finished writing his life story. He had it bound into books and gave one to each of his children and grandchildren with a note from him inside. By that time in my life I had been the proud wearer of 4 different casts one on each appendage of my body and had mastered the use of crutches. They called me Evil Kneivel...and it wasn't a compliment. Granddaddy was a doctor by profession and I imagine he cringed each time my Mom called to tell about another one of my escapades. I remember specifically having this note read to me.  I remember wondering why in the world Granddaddy thought it important to leave me this advice.  Here is a copy of the note he wrote to me.

 

I love Granddaddy's writing.

The entire thing, save the expressions of love, is about taming my nature to protect my body.  "Be careful, learn to avoid risk and danger that you may protect your body which is so important to you to be able to do all the things you were born to accomplish."  Those words ring true, now.  And now I'm trying to convince my own child of their importance.

Basghetti

Amy said spaghetti today.

It was really spaghetti and not basgehtti.
 
I blame Jared.  He has been coaching her on saying it correctly.  Doesn't he realize how sad it will be when everyone in the house can say spaghetti correctly?  I mean there are only a few words that mean you have a toddler/preschooler.  Sure, Amy is turning five in a few days and has a limited number of preschool days left, and should probably be saying it right but still.

The words I love most in our house are:
Basghetti = spaghetti
Pack pack = back pack
Frayforite = favorite
Busy = dizzy

What are the words at your house that you miss when your kids grow up?

Fashion Statement

This Christmas Tara decided to make every gift.  That is a big undertaking.  I wish I had taken a picture of the sign that was on her door during the process.  It said, "please knock.  serious present making in progress."  She made the little girls paper dolls, the boys targets to shoot their nerf guns at (instead of her) and Jared got a book of coupons for massages...which she spelled masashe.  There has been some teasing about that one.

My gift from Tara?
 

Get in line ladies! Duct tape aprons are gonna be the new big thing!

She has agreed to taper the top a little so I can move better :) 

They Teach Me Dumb

I was eavesdropping on a conversation the boys were having.

Ian: I can't wait until I go to your school.
Eric: Why?
Ian: Because my school teaches me dumb.
Eric: What do you mean?
Ian: They teach me dumb, Eric! At school yesterday, my teacher made me write a letter to an imaginary character in a book. I had to write a letter to someone who isn't even real! See. They teach me dumb.
Eric: Yeah, that's dumb.

I was really glad I could giggle and not get caught.  Oh, and about a week after this conversation, Ian got a note from school saying he tested into the gifted school.  He was beyond excited.

5 into 10

Every morning before Eric hops on the bus I tell him, "Remember 5 into 10, buddy." It's a secret code between the two of us and it's working.

You see, at the beginning of this school year our district decided to handle their gifted and talented program differently. Instead of pulling kids out of regular classes two days a week to attend the gifted school, they made it a full time campus.

Eric was really excited to go at the beginning of the year, but the adjustments were difficult. Eric was used to being the smartest kid in the class, being able to do his work without even trying, and finishing in a minute or two. Then suddenly he was being challenged, everyone around him was just as smart as him, and he realized that at this new school he was just a normal kid. It was like he lost a big chunk of his identity.

How he handled it was even more disturbing.  He stopped trying.

That's when we had a sit down.  We talked about the parable of the talents.  And specifically how those blessed with a lot of talents are expected to do a lot with them.  5 into 10.  Eric wants to do good.  He wants to follow the commandments of the Lord.  He has responded.


He recently got this note in his backpack:

And his teacher caught me in the hallway the other day to say how much of an improvement she has seen in Eric lately.  I'm really, really proud of Eric and the effort he has made.

Blindness

At church this morning Amy whispered in my ear "there are lots of blind people here today." Confused by the observation I asked her how she knew that.  Her answer, "because they can't open their eyes."  That's when I understood.  "Honey, they aren't blind. They're sleeping."