Emma and I came inside and she decided to sit down on the stairs. I decided to stop what I was headed to do and sit down with her. Had I not made that decision, I would not have experienced the most amazing, longest conversation we have ever had to date. I don’t even know if I can recall everything we talked about because I was so engulfed in the moment… at all she had to say. It was such a beautiful moment, one that still brings happy tears to my eyes. It is not that Emma is not verbal usually, but to the average person it is probably hard to decipher what she is saying because she leaves out so many connecting words when she talks and she typically has a hard time putting what’s in her brain into words. Not this time…she was talking beautiful, flowing sentences! What did we talk about you ask? Well, nothing really. That seemed like a lot of buildup for nothing huh?!? :) She told me in detail about her day at school, who she sat with at lunch, that her resource teacher had glasses on, that she saw her friend Kaylyn and she was wearing flip flops like Emma, that she had a chicken sandwich, broccoli and chocolate milk for lunch and then about her upcoming plans to have her friend Amanda sleepover this weekend and how they are going to watch a movie, have popcorn, play basketball and go to Drew’s baseball game. I know these are normal everyday things to a lot of families, but for me this was a shining moment for Emma in my world with her. I couldn’t help but have some slight feelings of sadness creep in for two reasons. One being that I did take some of those same type conversations with Drew for granted when he was that age. So often it is easy to ignore our kids because we are always so busy. Let this be a lesson. Your children are only young once, so don’t let moments pass you by. Even when they are teenagers and then adults, never let the opportunity pass you by to have meaningful conversations. The other, is sadness for those who do not know Emma on this level and therefore miss out on these opportunities to be amazed by her. For me, this was absolute perfection and my heart was filled with joy.
(I accidentally hit my hand on the door and someone found it amusing!)
A little while later Drew came waltzing in the kitchen and smiled, showing that he had lost another tooth. He has been a very late tooth loser, just like his mom and dad. Now he has about 5 teeth loose at once (which will make for some awesome redneck pictures when they all come out!). He brought me his tooth and put it on the counter and I swear my eyes flashed back and I saw him standing there as a 6 or 7 year old. Except he is not. He is now 13 ½ and instead of bursting with excitement for the tooth fairy to come, he tossed his tooth on the counter and said “what’s for dinner, I’m starvvvvvving”? And then the flashback was over and there was my always hungry teenager! Where has the time gone? Why is it so hard to watch them grow? It almost seems cruel sometimes. Maybe that’s silly but I wish I could bottle time. As if I wasn’t already internally emotional enough, he proceeds to tell me how some advice I had given him a few days before on a situation he was dealing with, helped a lot. He listened. I repeat, he listened to my advice. Oh man, was my heart bursting! In a phase of his life where we are always wrong and he is always right, my sweet baby had let what I said to him soak in. Another moment.
Lastly, we have a mama bird in our backyard that has made a nest for her babies. There are two little eggs in the nest. Apparently the bird scared Drew the other day when she flew out from under the deck and he decided it was an “angry” bird and he didn’t like it. I wanted this to be a teachable moment for Drew, so I explained to him that she built that nest all on her own and she was protecting her babies. As I was telling him this, I couldn’t help but be in awe of God’s beauty and how even a little bird knows what it means to be a mother. Really? Simply amazing. This morning, Drew had to run outside to check on the bird before school. Teachable moment achieved I’d say.
Oh and this is how I found the kids this morning. Emma found her way into her brother's room...again!
Have you had any “moments” this week? If not, I pray you do. Happy Friday!
