Two Eyes

Do you ever feel like your kid's voice is just a hum in the background? 

Sometimes I get like that.  They talk a lot and sometimes...okay, a lot of times I don't really listen.  And a lot of times I don't really look at them.  I get sucked into my own bubble and what I need to do and their worlds are just their own bubble, sometimes colliding into mine to get me to do something for them and then we all continue on. 

This morning I was watching little Andrew eat his cereal.  He is two and still learning how to hold a spoon and getting everything in his mouth without spilling.  It was the cutest thing, watching him take a bite with his mouth opening as wide as it possibly could to get the spoon and the contents in.  And after every bite he would look down at his chair to see everything he spilled and wipe it away with his little chubby hand.

I just sat there staring at him realizing how many mornings I could have watched him do this.  But I was too busy being angry for having to be awake, or packing lunches, or changing diapers, or signing homework, or doing dishes.  Not that any of those things are bad and they are totally necessary (okay, not the being angry one, but everything else), but why not take a few seconds to notice the kids that I am doing all this work for?

So on that note, I heard a little conversation clip from Matthew (the four year old) the other day.  You might enjoy it too.  And to help explain a little, since I have gotten glasses a few weeks ago, someone teasingly called me four eyes (or maybe I called myself that, I can't even remember), but I had to then explain to my boys that four eyes is not a nice name and not to call people that.

Okay, so Matthew had two little toys and they were talking.  

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

"Just walkin around, you know."

"Well, you should stop."

"No, I don't want to."

"Come back here!  Hey!  TWO EYES! Come back!"

Me: "Hey Matthew?  What are you playing?"

Matthew: "Oh, I'm just playing with these guys."

Me: "Well, why did one of them call the other one two eyes?"

Matthew: "Oh because you told us not to call people four eyes.  So since he has two eyes, and not glasses, I am calling him two eyes.  Is that a bad word?"

Me: "Uh, I guess not."

I don't know.  What do you think?  Is 'two eyes' mean?

Okay, go enjoy a kid conversation today.

Family

Two nights ago, we were brushing and flossing, cleaning and putting on pajamas, you know the little kid getting ready for bed drill.  It is exhausting and sometimes monotonous.  It is adorable and memorable.

I was cleaning up toys and sorting them into their correct bins.  In the back of my mind I can hear my husband telling the baby good job about something.  I turn just in time to see him (the almost 11 month old) standing and take his first 3 or 4 steps on his own.

We all started yelling and clapping.  What a success!  How awesome!  And how perfect we all got to see it!  I am so thankful I turned just in time to see it.  I love the firsts.  I love to see my little ones succeed. Even if it is just for five seconds and then they fall down.  They are trying.  And I hope they will get back up and try again.

And it doesn't matter that this is my fifth kid.  That I have seen them all take their first steps.  It isn't boring.  It is still wonderful.  It is still something to rejoice about and celebrate.  That is what family is.  You rejoice with each other.  You encourage each other.  You mourn with each other.  You hold each other.  Even if they are learning slow or if you wish you could do what they are doing.  You are happy for them.  You lift them and they lift you.

If we all try to be a better family, how much more happy this world would be.

(any typos and errors are due to two children climbing in and out of my lap, so I apologize for that.  I just figure they want their say.)