A Year of Smiles – Day 234

Reason to SMILE #234: WATCHING THEM GROW (and learning to let go)

He’s nineteen today and he’s standing on the edge of his future. I want to keep him close, stop time, somehow hang on to my little boy. After all, he is my firstborn, my first baby. But he’s no longer my “little” boy. He’s become an amazing young man, a man who makes his momma proud. The possibilities for his future are vast and the world awaits. Though tears may fill my eyes, a SMILE will always be in my heart as I watch him become the man God wants him to be.

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A Year of Smiles – Day 230

Reason to SMILE #230: KIDISMS VOLUME 5

In honor of my younger son’s twelfth birthday, I present to you Alex’s Greatest Hits:

3 years old: Clean Up Time

Me: OK, Alex. It’s time to pick up your toys. I’m going to count down from ten and you see if you can pick up all your toys before I’m done counting.

Alex: How ’bout I count and you pick ’em up?

 

4 years old: Rock, Paper, Scissors

Alex and his older brother, Corey, were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. Corey pounds his fist on his other hand while he says,” Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot!” On “shoot”, Corey forms scissors with his hand and Alex — well, he makes a gun with his fingers and says, “Ha! Ha! I shot your scissors. I win!”

 

6 years old: The Lord’s Supper

The congregation was sitting in quiet reverence of the observance of the Lord’s Supper. The Pastor raises the cup and says, “This is filled with juice but we know it represents the blood of Jesus…So as we drink this cup…”

Alex sits up and loudly announce: “I’m not drinking that!”

 

7 years old: The Fog

The drive to school was eerie due to a dense fog that covered everything. Visibility was at a minimum and as we neared Corey’s school, the fog was so thick that you could not even see the school building.

“Look, Alex!” I said. “Corey’s school is gone!”

From behind me, I heard an evil little laugh erupting. “Bahahahaha! One down – one
million to go!”

 

8 years old: Spanish 101

Corey: Usted esta aburrido! That means, “You’re boring,” Alex.

Alex: You’re a burrito!!

End of lesson.

 

9 years old: Pizza

Alex opens up a box of pizza and sings “Aaaaaaaah” in his best angelic voice.

He closes the box and opens it again. “Aaaaaaaah,” he sings.

“It would be cool if it did that every time you opened the box, wouldn’t it? I wish there was an app for that!”

 

10 years old: Trust Issues

Corey: What did you see at the College Fair?

Alex: A dead dog’s heart.

Corey: Was there a live dog’s heart?

Alex: No. It has to be dead.

Corey: Then you just saw a dog’s heart.

Alex: The veterinarian told us it was dead.

Corey: You can’t always trust a veterinarian.

Alex: Yeah! Because they take out dog’s hearts!

 

11 years old: European History

While studying for a social studies test, I asked Alex what countries France colonized. He thought for quite a while so I decided to give him a hint.

“One is right above us,” I said as I raised my hand to point upward.

To that, Alex replied, “Mom, France did not colonize heaven!”

 

Alex: On Growing Up

“I don’t get why my voice is cracking!” Alex complained.

“Because your voice is changing,” I replied.

“But my voice has already changed. Is it going to change again?!? It’s like God changed it and then said, ‘No, I don’t like that one. Let’s try another one.’ ”

Poor thing! 😝

 

Although you may not be able to fully appreciate these SMILE moments, I thank God for every single one. Being this kid’s mom is a blessing from God. There’s no one like my Alex, that’s for sure! He’s given me twelve years of SMILES and I’m sure there are many more to come.

 

A Year of Smiles – Day 207

Reason to SMILE #207: END OF SUMMER/BEGINNING OF SCHOOL

 

Summer is waning – 

Except for the heat.

And kids will soon be

At school in their seats.

Five days of freedom

Remain for a few.

ONLY FIVE DAYS?

But there’s so much to do!

There’s shopping for glue

And rulers and pens,

Pencils and paper –

Is that wide-ruled or thin?

There’s sports registration 

And after school care

There’s shopping for clothes – 

Do they need underwear?

There’s schedules to change 

And sleep to adjust;

There’s groceries to buy –

Those snacks are a must!

Oh, then there are shoes. 

I almost forgot.

For one little “swish”

Small fortunes are lost!

There’s so much to do

And so little time.

Oh, how did the days 

Of summer pass by?

While surveying lists

And mourning lost time,

Your kids in the house 

Are found running wild.

The TV is blaring;

Their rooms are a mess.

They’re fighting and nagging;

They’re being such pests.

You start to get up 

But halt in your tracks.

You look at the date,

Then SMILE and relax.

There’s only five days;

School soon will begin.

The house will be empty.

You’ll have peace once again! 😉

 

 

A Year of Smiles – Day 157

Reason to SMILE #157: TACO SALAD

4:29 PM.  I’m preparing for the third night of Vacation Bible School at my church.  I have an hour before the night begins so I’m pretty busy.  My phone whistles.  “On no!” I think. “Please don’t let it be someone who can’t make it.”

I pick up my phone and am pleasantly surprised to see that it’s my older son who is currently away for the summer interning at a church in North Georgia.  He has this question for me:

Several things begin to run through my mind:

What a horrible mom I am for sending my kid off on his own without teaching him how to cook!

How am I supposed to get everything I need to do done in the little time I have and teach my kid how to cook at the same time?

And how in the world am I supposed to teach this kid to cook via text message?

Over the next few minutes, my son and I text back and forth while I go about prepping for VBS Night Three.  From how much meat is needed to browning the meat to heating up the black beans, I give the instructions as succinctly as I can and I say a quick prayer for safety.  Lord, please don’t let him burn down the Youth Minister’s house!

6:59 PM.  VBS was running smoothly.  I decide to find out how the cooking went.  So, I send my son another text:

   

He did good!  He made his momma SMILE.

I may have been busy when that text was sent to me this afternoon but it made no difference.  My son needed me and I was going to do everything I could to help – even if it meant giving a cooking lesson by text!