Words of Wisdom

My boys seem to do some serious thinking and pondering of life's mysteries when we are driving in the car.  That is, when they aren't beating each other senseless and hurling insults at one another.  There have been some great conversations, observations, and words of wisdom that have come from my young boys when we are trapped in a car without distractions.   One of my favorites came from Zane after a long hard day of Kindergarten.   He sits in the cargo seat in the very back of the car and I often look at his sweet little face as he peers out the window.  I can just see the wheels turning as he ponders life and other mysteries. The car was pretty much silent on this particular day, when out of the blue Zane says, "Mom?  Girls talk too much."  He paused for a few seconds, then added, "and Mom?  Sometimes you talk too much too. I wish you wouldn't talk so much."  He's learning a life lesson early.  Yes, my dear sweet son, girls do talk too much and you will have to deal with it your whole life.

When Greyson was five, we were driving on the freeway when I noticed that he was staring out the window for a long time. He finally asked, "Mom?  How do babies come out of the Mommy's?"  I told him that babies lived in a special place in the Mommy called a womb, and when the baby gets too big to fit, he or she comes out of the Mommy's privates.   He stared out the window for a little while then said, "Doesn't that hurt?"  "Yes, it does hurt.  But there are doctors and nurses there to help, and after a while the pain goes away, but the Mommy and Daddy have a perfectly sweet little baby, so it's worth it."  More staring out the window, then Greyson heaved a big sigh of relief and summed up what every man on earth thinks, when he said, "Boy!  I'm glad I'm not a girl!"

Zane is starting to realize there is a world out there that is different than what goes on in our home.  On the way home from school one day he said, "Mom... not everyone is married."  "No, there are lots of people that haven't found someone to marry yet."  He couldn't understand how someone could actually live alone. "But that would be so boring to live all by yourself."  He followed that up by saying, "Boy, I'm glad we have a wife!"

We drove by a large office building one day and Greyson threw out  a comment about what it would be like if that was our home.  I said it would be way too big to keep clean.  He said, "Then we would just get a maid... oh wait a minute... you're the maid Mom!"   Apparently that is how I'm perceived.  The one who is always doing dishes, laundry, and cleaning.

Our neighbors are going through a divorce and their young daughter came over and told the boys "My parents are divorced."  Zane had no idea what she was talking about, so we had to explain it to him.  Bless his sweet little heart, he just could not get his head around the idea that a Mom and Dad splitting up was even an option.  His heart really went out to this little girl, and for weeks he continued to talk about it.  We would reassure him that Daddy and I are together for life and he doesn't need to worry about that in our family.  He can't seem to remember the word 'divorced', and one day in the car, out of the blue he said, "Mom... I'm so glad you and Daddy aren't departed."  It took me a minute, then I knew.. he was still thinking of his little friend across the street who was moving away because of the divorce, not the death of both of his parents.

Silas and I were cuddling up one afternoon while the older two were at school,  when he said, "Wet's pway I spy!  I spy wiff my wittle eye something pretty.... YOU!"  Talk about melting my heart!  That boy knows how to get on my good side.  He routinely calls me, "Pretty, sweet, boo-tiful Mama."  He is usually covering up for some kind of mess  he knows I'll find later.   It melts my heart anyway and he knows it.

Greyson recently had a fever and a headache for two days.  As I was giving him medicine, he looked up at me with his sad, little watery eyes and said, "Thank you for taking care of me."  It was so heartfelt with genuine gratefulness in his voice and it meant the world to me.

I often get wrapped up in the "maid" part of my job, the stresses and trials of raising three little boys, but then they will say something so simple, so sweet, and remind me of what a truly wonderful family I am a part of.   And that being a mom to these three boys is really what matters in my life.  To care for them when they are sick, play, read, spend time loving them.  The dishes will be there tomorrow... the laundry will get folded eventually, but my boys will only be young for a little while.  I am very blessed.