Sometimes Kids Aren't Nice Back

Something in our prayer triggered a memory of Lincoln's school day (FYI- Very rarely does Lincoln share much about his interactions with the other kids at school). He shared that he had been running on the playground and accidently knocked another boy down. Apparently, Lincoln was running forward and looking back over his shoulder. Feeling bad, Lincoln apologized to the boy for knocking him down. The boy's reply took Lincoln by surprise. The boy said angrily, "Sorry doesn't change anything" and he shrugged Lincoln and his friends off. Typically, when Lincoln apologizes to a person the reponse is "It's okay" and everyone is friendly again. Lincoln told me that what the boy said made him feel sad because he didn't know what to do or say next. I explained that apologizing was the right thing to do and that sometimes when people get hurt apologizing doesn't fix it right away. We talked about how the boy might have thought that Lincoln ran into him on purpose, and Lincoln concluded that he needed to watch where he was running. :)

Encouraging My Children

In the last 24 hours I have had many reflective thoughts about being a wife and mother, especially. At some point I realized that I think many positive thoughts about my kids behaviors but many times I don't verbalize the encouragement (the same fits w/ Brad). For example, I was downstairs folding laundry this morning. Catherine and Coleman played upstairs a good 30 minutes without Catherine speaking "ugly" to Coleman. She wasn't bossy, she didn't get on to him for playing with her kitchen, .... it was so nice. I thought "Wow, they are playing so nice" and that was as far as it went- just a thought. So, challenging myself, I decided I really need to verbalize those thoughts. So, I hopped up the stairs, looked Catherine in the eyes and told her how glad I was that she and Coleman were playing nicely. Of course she just beamed. I told Coleman "Good Job" and we all High-Fived.

Much later in the afternoon, after Lincoln and Catherine had a good 30 minutes where they were picking on each other (with much whinning and tattling), I noticed happy sounds coming from the den. Lincoln and Catherine were having so much fun together. Their laughter was contagious. Again, I had my thought. But thankfully, I stopped and told them how happy I was watching them have so much fun. They grinned and immediately went back to semi-wrestling and taking turns kicking and chasing (no one got hurt) :)

There were a couple of other instances, and I feel that there are already results. This may not seem huge to you, but it so warmed my heart. We were out tonight, and Catherine almost fell asleep on the way home. After unbuckling his seatbelt, Lincoln looks around at Catherine (he sits in the back of the van), sees her eyes closed, and kisses her on the head. Most nights, he groans silly-like, at the thought of kissing his sister. But tonight, he noticed just how sweet Catherine is asleep. The expression on his face conveyed love and care for his sister. He WANTED to give her a kiss. With almost tears in my eyes, I told him that kissing his sister goodnight was SO sweet. He just grinned and gave me a thumb's up.

I am very affectionate with my children (Catherine resists it much more than the boys), and they will never wonder if I love them because I always tell them (2 things I vowed to do as a mom). But, when they grow up, I want them to remember that while I had to discipline the unwanted behaviors, I also lifted them up with words of encouragement in what they did right or well. That's going to be a hard challenge to do consistently, but I will continually pray for it to be so.

Fun in the Dirt!

Several weeks ago, our neighbor had several truck loads of dirt dumped near our yard. The kids enjoyed the coming and going of the dump trucks and couldn't wait for the day to play in the dirt. Well, that day was today. It was perfect because cousins Anna Lea and Tyler were here and I couldn't resist letting them play out there. I did have one spoiler: "Don't throw the dirt on each other's heads! We are going out to eat later and I don't want you to get TOO dirty" HA They had bunches of fun running and climbing and ,surprisingly, they didn't get too dirty. Well, I take that back, Lincoln did "sweat" brown. It left a nice streak down his face.

Catherine Speaks Out!!

It all happened yesterday while we were driving home on Hwy 111. Lincoln got into one of his "What if's.....". "What if this car bumped into that car and that car FLEW UP into the air, came down, bounced over the other car, and then fell off the bridge, and then...... and then that would be SO COOL." That is just an example of one of the segments I listened too. I, at some point, blocked him out. I came back around when I heard Catherine talking to Lincoln rather sternly. Then I just started laughing to myself when I realized what she was saying. I heard Catherine say "LINCOLN, will you stop talking about that!!!" He didn't. A little louder "LINCOLN, will you STOP TALKING ABOUT THAT!!!" I don't think he heard her still b/c he was still "What-ifing" Finally, Catherine says as loud as her little voice could "LINCOLN, STOP TALKING ABOUT THAT!!!!!!" What made it even funnier was that Coleman joined in with Catherine- he mimicks and repeats what he can. So by the last demand, it was really Catherine and Coleman yelling at Lincoln. Lincoln, did finally pause and I said, "Lincoln, your brother and sister want you to be quiet now." He kinda frowned, but respected their opinion with no further comment. It was funny to that Catherine get "fed up" with Lincoln's ramblings.

Happy 6th Birthday Lincoln!!

6 years ago today, we went to the hospital to be induced. Lincoln was 6 days past his due date and showed no signs of coming on his own. At 11:09 pm on September 4, 2002, Lincoln Ronald Brown came into this world weighing a big 5 lb 8 ounces.

There is no way to know, until you have one, just how much a little baby like this can change your life. There is no way to understand just how much love one can feel for another little human being until that baby is here. We thank God daily for our children. They are gifts that God entrusts us with to love, teach, and inspire.

And here is my very first "baby" as a 6 year old this morning. After eating his 6-shaped pancake, he said "I don't feel any different..." I am not sure if he was glad or sad about that. What a special day this is, and I have to stop and praise God for this wonderful little boy He created. :)