Stick With You

An eerie silence has fallen over my house. We’ve had such a bustle of visitors and activity that now it almost seems like we are living in a library. I’m having a hard time cleaning up all the baby toys and baby stuff. I’m missing my family terribly.

Full Speed was in caretaker mode this morning (it helps because he got about 13 hours of sleep). He takes his role seriously as ‘man of the house’ when Mad Dog is out of town. He noticed Baby D’s high chair was still at the table this morning (I didn’t have the heart to fold it away yet). I told him I sure felt sad that his cousins had left and that I would miss them.

“Mom,” he said, “T.Puzzle and I are still here and you can see us everyday so you won’t ever miss us.”

“Thanks, Full Speed, that makes me feel better. I’m glad I get to see you both every day,” I responded. I love when threads of empathy come through Full Speed’s words. It makes me feel like maybe I’m doing my job right.

Another life skill we are working on in our house is ‘sticking with it’. That means whatever Mommy gives you, you say “thank you, ma’am, it’s exactly what I wanted.” For instance, I’ll give the boys a couple choices for snack and if they can’t decide, they have to be happy with whatever Mom puts in front of them. Same goes for toys, clothes, tv shows, etc.

As I was preparing breakfast (frozen pancakes gourmet delight), Full Speed asked his little brother if he could remember what Full Speed told Santa he wanted for Christmas. A dutiful T.Puzzle shouts, “Guns and swords!”

Full Speed was impressed he remembered. “Give me a double high T.Puzzle.” T.Puzzle jumps from his chair and slaps his brother’s hands.

Now, as a mother, you can sense that Santa actually giving Full Speed guns and swords for Christmas would be an accident or a gravely endangered T.Puzzle waiting to happen. I tried my best to offset the weaponry violence.

“Hey, Full Speed, what if Santa isn’t able to bring you guns and swords for Christmas? What if he brings you something else but is certain you would really like it?”

“I’d stick with whatever Santa gave me, Mom,” is his automatic reply.

“I’m sticking with you, kid,” is mine.