I love my son. Of course, you say, and I do love him for all the reasons a mother loves her child but there is more. My Darling and I recently exchanged stories of our independent experiences with the child. I, this morning, had left the boy eating at the table to jump into the shower and when I came down to check on him I saw the plate, fork and cup from his breakfast was placed neatly on the counter next to the sink. It is what we have taught him to do but I am still in awe that he actually does it...all the time...without being told. My Darling listened to my story and then shared his own. The night I worked, Father and Son had dinner together and when my Darling finished eating he left the boy to finish his dinner and went out to gather the chickens for the night and close up the coop. When he returned the boy had cleared his own dish and his fathers placing them both on the counter and wiped the table. He will turn five in two weeks.

Yes I brag, I am thrilled when a stranger offers him something (like the nice lady at the home we were investigating for the MIL) and he responds "no thank you". You should have seen her eyes almost pop out of her head with shock and pleasure. "If only my grandchildren were so polite" she says. This makes Mama happy. He is polite and considerate, he is also loud and annoying, he is after all just a little boy. But in some ways I feel vindicated. It took a lot of hard work and diligence, we braved tears, whining, crying and time outs a plenty but he rarely ever embarrasses me in public. He understands that he must be kind and considerate, that he is part of our family and that means there are expectations, as in, he will clean up after himself (and sometimes us). He will keep his room clean and he toys out of sight unless he is playing with them. And when he has done something he shouldn't do and we ask him what he thinks should happen he quietly places himself in time out.

He struggles with some of the age appropriate learning, counting still trips him up, even the 1-10 kind (he seems surprised the 9 does not come right after 7) and words are hard for him to remember, there is a lot of um, um, umming when he tries to say things. This will all create challenges for him in the future but at least I know he understands that he is a part of our family and we not only expect him to participate but we trust him to do the right thing, even when we are not looking, and he does.

I'm going to go up and kiss him while he sleeps. I love my boy.

I wish you Peace

~alison~

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