Postcards from the Edge

My son went with me to the Post Office today for the first time.

He had carefully and purposefully made some adorable artwork for his Nonnie.

We placed it in a beautiful envelope, waited in line and he gave the money to the clerk and asked for a stamp as I had coached him.

He seemed confused, and had a tear in his eye when I gave the letter to the mail clerk and turned to leave.

"They take it to your Nonnie's house for us, and she will get it in a few days and be so happy."

Without skipping a beat, he ran back and asked the clerk to put a stamp on him so they could send him to his Nonnie's house too.

My son the flirt

Less interested in the treats, more interested in flirting.  OY!  I am in trouble.

My son dropped the f bomb

Perfect context, inflection, sigh, turn to look in my eyes, and with perfect timing . . there it was.

Kind of impressive, funny and shocking at the same time.

Instantly I blamed my husband, though he swore our son must had learned it from my 'truck driver mouth.'

It couldn't be me, I have been playing the part of a lady for awhile now. 

(Thankfully youtube was not around back in the day when I was beating men twice my size at belching contests)

I held it together this morning as my son ran around in circles while I was trying to get him ready, but on the way to school, someone cut me off (not a usual occurance in a town of 1500 with its first stop light being installed as we speak), but it happened. . .

. . . and now I see that my mini me did learn the f word from me, inflection, sigh, delivery and all.

Darn.

You've come a long way

Dear Isaac

Dear Isaac,

(Or Samson as I may start calling you because of your freakish strength and screams this morning when I tried to trim your hair)

It is amazing to me that you are 29 months today.

Oh, the places you have been and the places you have yet to go.

As I watch you grow, and more about your personality and spirit is uncovered, I am even more a believer that our traits are predetermined and neutral in nature. We (and others) are the ones who assign those traits positive or negative meaning, but as you mature, only you can choose how to direct your behavior using those characteristics.

Your stubbornness, or strength of conviction, is not a trait that needs to be broken as others believe, but instead can be a gift that if channeled towards positive goals will be an important life skill.

Your knack for getting into everything, or your inquisitive nature, can lead to you uncovering many unanswered questions if you realize the power of developing this ability and using it to find answers that help the common good.

Your melt-downs, or sensitivity and true connection to your feelings, can foster more empathy and understanding about others and aid you in building positive relationships. (And believe me, your planned ‘performances’ just for the comedy do not go unnoticed by me, and will help you diffuse many uncomfortable situations.)

So as your grandparents, aunts, uncles and strangers give me the stink eye when they witness you falling to the floor with emotion, saying ‘no’ on occasion to establish some authority in your own life, wearing a gold lame jacket to school with two different shoes, getting pretty pissed when I tell you ‘no’, and questioning me starting you on time-outs at 16 months, I need to remind myself that they all have amnesia of once being or having a child behaving the same way even though they will surely deny it and continue to judge me no matter what I do.

No worries, my son, I will take all those hits for you. (I just wish that your timing for such displays was not always when it is you and I in a large public place – Mama does still on occasion care what others think.)

I do know that we need to continue to work on learning that ‘there is a time and place for everything’, and that emotional outbursts can be thwarted and channeled into outdoor adventures or artistic pursuits as well, but hopefully one day you will thank me for not jumping on the bandwagon to rob you of your individuality and break your spirit in your second year.

Lord knows there are enough folks who will line up to do that soon enough.

Instead I hope to teach you to recognize, foster and use your talents in the most constructive ways, and instill in you that your traits are yours, none of them are negative unless you choose and use them to be, and to remember that those who give you the hardest time about them, are usually the ones who are not staying true or using their own in this way.

I love you,

Mama