Boat Calling

Joshua: "beep beep beep..ring ring...calling Mom"
Me: cradling my hand (aka my phone) to my ear "Hello?"
J: "Hey Mom!  It's me, Josh."
Me: "Oh hey buddy, how are you?"
J: "I'm good."
Me: "Cool, what are you doing?"
J: "Oh, I'm just packing to go on a trip in my boat."
Me: "Wow, where are you going?"

I look across the room and he is lounging in a giant box filled with pillows, staring at the ceiling talking into a plastic phone.

J: "I think I am going to go visit Martin and Chris, you know, see how they are."

For those of you who don't know, those are the guys from the show Wild Kratts, the boys' favorite show.

Me: "Oh cool, cool, how long are you going to be gone?"
J: "Um probably like 4 days or so."
Me: "Well, do you have enough food packed?"
J: "I have a giant barrel of water, so I'm good there, and we will just catch fish and stuff as we go."
Me: "Don't you need to cook fish?"
J: "No, it's fine."
Me: "Okay, well, that's good, sounds like you have it all planned."
J: "Yup, just wanted to let you know."
Me: "Awesome, well be safe, I love you."
J: "Love you too Mom."
Click
Click

This was probably my favorite part of today.  I haven't been the best about actually playing with my kids.  They entertain each other so well, what do I really need to do when it comes to play time?  But I have been realizing that they are kind of just falling to the background of my life.  I take care of them, but I don't really care for them.  And that should never happen.  So I have been really working on changing that around.
1. Pray for them. I have been praying for them, each of them, by name.
2. Pay attention.  I try to listen to them.  This is super difficult because holy cow, they talk a lot.  In this, I am a work in progress.  A real work in progress.
3. Play with them.  Kids love it when adults, especially their parents spend time to get in their world.  It is hilarious and I love it.  It isn't easy, but I love seeing their giggling faces and knowing that just for a minute, I am their friend.  And maybe as I get better, I will be their friend minute by minute until it is all the time.

That way, they will call me when they are on pretend boats, wishing they were on a boat, or actually on a boat.  I want them to call, "just to let me know."