Lyndsey's Persistence

Lyndsey is cracking me up. Yesterday, we were "doing school" and worked on a sheet where she had to identify the different members of our family (cartoon drawings) and label them with the names. (This was good practice writing her "d"!) There were a mother, father, 2 girls, 2 boys, and 2 extra spaces for other family members. She identified each person, commenting that she was the girl with the long hair. She then insisted on labeling the other girl as her sister. I kept telling her she doesn't have a sister, but she really wanted too. So she made up a name (dseLLy) and wrote it in. I chalked it up to her really wanting to do more of the worksheet (not be finished yet).
Well, this morning, we were talking about Sammy going on a plane and Lyndsey wanting to go with her 'cause she wants to be with her all the time. She then went on about wanting to be with: you, Daddy, Anderson, Ethan, and my sister - all the time. I asked her what sister she's talking about, and she matter-of-factly answered, "the baby that's going to be in your belly". ("Oh really!", I thought.) I told her that first of all, we don't know if God is going to put a baby in my belly. She confidently responded, "Yes He will". I followed up with, "And if He does, we don't know if it will be a girl." That didn't stop her either. She's something else. I had all I could do to not crack up in front of her. 8)

Mothering Mistakes

Of course, there are many of these...the reason for mistakes. However, this one really took me off-guard. For an annual fundraiser, the school kids do a piece of artwork which can then be purchased as a magnet, coffee cup, etc. Well, Anderson's artwork was very good, but he tends to care NOTHING for things of this nature. I have hung a number of his masterpieces on the walls, as any good Mom does, but he doesn't seem to value artistic expression much. 8) So, I wasn't planning to buy his magnet (which the school sends home for parents to "view"). We talked about what a good job he did, discussing the details of his drawing. I told him I was sending it back, but he expressed that I should buy it. My initial thought was that the kids had been drilled about parents buying these, not that it was important to him. (This sounds pretty dumb as I type it, but it made sense at the time!) So I explained about being good stewards of our money and that $5 is a lot for a magnet if it didn't really matter to him that it was his art. Well, come to find out, it did matter. So, I happily wrote the check and put the magnet on the refrigerator.
The next morning, Anderson nearly forgot the folder with the check (as well as a few other things waiting for him on the counter). When I pointed it out, he grabbed it and then started crying when he saw what it was. He said that he didn't want me to buy the magnet; it was too much money. I told him that I wanted to, that it was important to him. He very introspectively said that he felt guilty that I was buying it because it was a lot of money. Oh, that broke my heart! The poor guy! I assured him that I was HAPPY to buy it because he made the art, and it was very good. Thankfully, he heard my heart and believing me, headed off to school with no more tears. Boy, that could have been a big mess. I'm so glad that he expressed himself to me...he generally is pretty good at doing that. Thank You, Lord!

Here is a great article https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1ohzhBseRdaB-M6mxjeWFCTlGmslioWwboWPMbjCto6c