The Power of a Crayon

“Don’t underestimate the power of a crayon.”

My daughter is notorious for her playful singing and dancing, her smile and her laughter. She does not sit still. For the most part, neither do I, so this bodes well for both of us. Until dinnertime each night.

One night we were eating dinner together and she was her usual playful self. I had finished my dinner and was putting my plate away and beginning to clean the kitchen as I patiently waited for her to finish, when I noticed she had escaped the dinner table. This was slightly unusual behavior. Not the first time, but generally she stays put to eat her dinner.

Moments later she reappeared with her journal and a crayon. Immediately I reminded her she needed to remain at the table and finish dinner. And then she said something that stopped me in my tracks.

“Well, I would mom, but I thought it was much more important to draw this picture of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.” My first thought was, “Wow, that’s probably the best excuse I have ever heard come out of the mouth of a 5 year old.” However, sure enough, she immediately held up her drawing – a stick figure Jesus with a giant head and crown of thorns encircling it, up on a stick figure cross, no less. I was speechless.

This picture came out of absolute nowhere. Sure, we pray before dinner, but then we talk about our day, things that happened at school, work, etc. It made me realize that Jesus can speak through small children as well. Maybe sometimes, to get the attention of adults – the ones who no longer understand the power of a crayon.

Listen to anything your children tell you. If you don’t listen to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big. Because to them, it’s all big stuff.

Life is a series of tiny little miracles. Notice them.

The Micromanagemet of Little Men

I pride myself in trying to be a “cool mom” and allowing my kids to explore and try new things -to enjoy life, always have fun, and play. To be kids!! I rarely scold but try to take the opportunity to see things from their viewpoint. This strategy takes on a much more delightful form to parenting.

Over Christmas my kids loving aunt bought them the ‘Pie in the Face’ game. For those of you who are not familiar with it, picture Russian Roulette with whipped cream – in a convenient little box. Who came up with this idea???

And so, the other day my son and his best friend (since birth I might add) are playing together and they decide to pull out the game. I was pretty proud of them for not hitting the TV or computer screen but finding something else to do with their time together. I guess boys will be boys though. They got into the fridge to get the whipped cream and discovered – lo and behold – the ketchup. This is one of those parenting moments where you really think you are on auto-pilot them WHAM. After all, the boys are now 7. I am finally passed the reminder stage of “Wash your hands”, “Shut off the lights” or “Flush the toilet”. So I should not have to say, “Remember to use whipped cream and not ketchup with that game.”

I guess I can chalk this experience up to what our parent’s may have faced before the advent of home computers and the Internet. Does anyone remember mud pies? And how proud you were, bringing that into the house for mom to see? I’m sure the same thought process runs parallel to the situation I was now facing. Part of me has to give the boys credit for their creativity – literally thinking “outside the box”.

The moment first hit me when I opened the fridge to find the whipped cream still in its same spot in the door of the fridge. First thought – “How many cans of this do I have???” Second thought – “Oh my gosh, only one!” Third thought – “What on earth are the boys using???” Off I sprinted to find them.

Walking into my bathroom became another story. It was like walking into a scene from ‘The Shining’ and I half expected to find REDRUM written on the mirror. And while the walls looked like a mass murder scene the takeaway of this experience is they learned another skill – cleaning.

I can hang onto my pride for another day at least. Fostering creativity and a clean home. All in a day’s work.

Mom & Me Ideas

I think a lot about quality versus quantity when it comes to raising my kids. Time is so important and I hate to waste it spending precious moments in front of a TV (unless it’s movie night!) I find that I learn so much more from my kids, when they teach me. How do I do that? Well, I have to push the self release button sometimes and become a kid once again. You know what? It’s the best feeling in the world.

Perhaps I spent too much time in my twenties believeing that if I spent every moment at work something magical would change. I worked two jobs most of that decade only to discover that it was really an excercise in futility.

Then along came these two children. Blond hair, blue eyes and big smiles. They began to teach me in their own subtle way, that in the end, life really is about so much more than a 9-5 job.

I have a new viewpoint on life – a renewed energy.

Don’t get me wrong, there are days when I find myself in the office with my children, multi-tasking as is often the case in single mom status. My son was playing “fort” under my desk when he popped up to say the funniest thing – “Hey mom, how much do you have to pay to work in  a place like this?”

PJ’s & Popcorn – Halloween Movie Night

There is nothing more fun than sharing a family movie night, especially in the fall when the nights start to become a little shorter, a lot colder and the best part about the evening is snuggling on the couch together.

There are such a great variety of movies available, and one of my first and free (!) suggestions would be to check our your public library to see what is available. I am also a huge advocate for Amazon Fire TV which offers a subscription to an amazing amount of movie options when combined with your Amazon Prime membership.

Don’t forget the popcorn! For this fun and free family event I always love to have popcorn. To make this extra special and memorable for the season, try sprinkling in some favorites such as candy corn or M&Ms. And if there are leftovers? Check out my recipes section for the all time favorite – popcorn balls!

Some great family options for the season include:

Goosebumps

Happy Haunting

Icabod Crane