Wow...it has been a whole year! I have been feeling badly about neglecting the blog lately...I document our life on Facebook and Instagram and with texting and stuff so much so I don't really feel like I need yet another medium...but then this one seems a little bit more journal-esque than the rest and I am going to try to do better so we have more of a family record. Then again, I have said that many times over. Anywho, here goes.
This past Monday we had a quick FHE (because we weren't prepared that well...which used to be fine but now Leo notices and he is always really excited for it so we need to do better...add that to the list) Anyway, we read a story out of The Friend magazine called "School Bus Hero". I thought he would like it because it had a school bus in it, naturally, but also he had told me about some things going on at recess lately and I felt like it was a good message to talk about. By the way, totally innocent preschool things happening...just felt like a good teaching moment for the future.
The story is about a boy named Jason who, in a nutshell, didn't like to ride the bus until he made a friend (Ryan) and then he started being friendly to others on the bus (namely Blake) because he didn't want them to feel lonely like him. We chatted for a few minutes after we read it and I asked Leo if he thought he could try and be like Jason at school on Thursday. He asked me to write a reminder in his lunch (since I always write him a note on his napkin anyway).
Well, today was Thursday. I remembered to write on his note the tagline from the story that we had discussed (Sometimes heroes wear backpacks instead of capes) and then I drew a picture of a school bus and wrote "Be like Jason". As we were getting buckled in the car after I picked him up and I was asking about his day and such he got real excited and said "MOM! IT WORKED!" Then he proceeded to tell me about how he got his note and folded it up and kept it in his pocket so he could remember and then at recess how he got almost his whole class to play duck, duck, goose together.
I felt his comment was so profound...it worked! Yes in so many ways!!! Family night worked! Teaching a lesson worked! Having a goal worked! Writing notes on his napkins worked! Trying to raise a good human worked! For all of the times it seems like it isn't...this is a reminder that sometimes it does. IT WORKS! It matters!
(And along those lines, something else to remember...Leo recently told me that he loves our house because of the paint in the dining room, the curtains in the kitchen, the stripes on his wall, and a million other things he listed that I have done to our house...and it was like that total payoff moment where you are like "YES! It mattered! It wasn't just me being vain and trying to be trendy but it makes him feel like this is a loving, secure home! It worked!")
Sweet, sweet Leo...he is a super special child in so many ways. In a lot of ways I am just trying my best to not mess him up as he seems to be hard-wired to just be pretty awesome. Most days I feel completely overwhelmed in parenting him...he is too wise in way too many ways. I want him to just be a little boy and enjoy being little and silly, and yet at the same time I feel like we need to keep encouraging and pushing him as he seems to be so capable and definitely destined for something more.
Being a stay-at-home mom is sometimes hard and frustrating and a million times over I wonder if I am really doing anything except the same load of laundry or dishes..but then every once and awhile I get these sweet moments that remind me that it is so worth it. It matters...it works!
