My six year old, Little Man Tate, is now in the first grade and has lost five teeth (his sixth is very near ready to leave him, too!). He still has all the health issues he has had since beginning problems came up at age four months, but wow! how blessed he is, and we are, to be this far.
I went to his school yesterday to check him out for yet another follow up. Thankfully we were headed to the GI doctor that he loves so much. The waiting room is literally filled with baseball memorabilia - stuff from a stadium that was torn down - the ticket booth of that stadium is the doctor's check in window, the wood stadium seats are bolted to the floor for you to sit on, the player's locker box is there to check out also - then down the hall are all the baseball cards and framed shirts, etc - the ceiling in the waiting room is painted like a baseball diamond, and outside the building are a giant baseball and bat. To say that my son loves it is an understatement - and so does his mom I must say - it never fails to fascinate me about someone loving something so much that they are willing to pay who knows what to have parts of it in their life (and it all comes back to the life and death of Christ and God's love for us, doesn't it? That is exactly what he did for us - paid ANY price to have us with Him! again - I am still amazed).
I digress (as usual) - back to Tate. He has recently really started reading well. It had been something that he has done only because he had to and then the other day we are driving down the road and he starts talking out loud - sounding things out- and I realize he is voluntarily reading!! I LOVE IT!! Being an avid reader myself I want my children to love it, too. I have one daughter (my oldest) that can't get enough to read - and the second daughter that will do it if pressed, but would much rather be tumbling or twirling. Now, Tate is readily reading!! YEA!
He has discovered another dimension to his life - that there is so much available to him just through being able to read. Now that he has knowledge and ability we are holding him accountable to read. Read more, faster, better, and comprehend. This is what the school requires. He really is good at it - will try until he gets it.
This, again, is where I am still learning from my children. Tate was rocking along in life, loving Wii games but always needing help with the instructions, loving to help make things, but always asking how (when anyone else could have read the directions), and I could go on and on. I never really thought "I can't wait til he can read!" or anything. I just took it as a part of life that he would need help. Now, he can do it. Independence has been taken a step further. With this new knowledge not only does he have a whole new world opened up to him, but I have less 'control' and ability to protect. I wonder if this is how God felt in the Garden with Adam and Eve? They were basically like Tate - bright eyed, loving, always needing help - but then one day they ate the fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Kind of like learning to read (well, loosely like that). Now God is faced with their new awareness - know the pains and hurts it could bring them, but also realize that the choice has been made. Now we deal with it.
I know I am probably going on too much about this, but I just wonder. Wonder if Tate will always use his new knowledge in good ways - or if a choice he makes in the future will twist it? Will his innocent development turn into something evil? It could, but the choice is already made. We even HELPED him with this - knowing that this step was necessary to make living in this world easier, but not really fully realizing what was being lost in the process. Innocence. Need of help. Ignorance (in the best sense of the word).
So, my prayers follow, and precede, my children daily -protection spiritually, mentally, and physically from any attacks satan may have waiting on them - that their "roots" would continue to grow in Christ and be strong and able to hold firm. That no matter what, they know they always have someone they can turn to. That they are a light to this dark world - shining the love of Jesus as they walk and talk. That they are always teachable.
While I am just having this realization with Tate, I am also thinking of my other two and what "firsts" they are just getting to even though they are older than him - how we navigate these firsts can determine their futures - wanting to make sure we are teaching them correctly no matter what the world is saying around us. That the knowledge they unlock at each level of development is well received and well handled.
MAN!! Parenting is a scary and wonderful job all rolled into one!
Thankfully what I miss, or my husband misses, in teaching them, God will use the right 'someone' to fill in like He did in our lives.
So, on to more of this "new world" with all three kids. I am so very blessed to have the opportunity to navigate all of this with them - unfortunately I don't think I appreciate that opportunity nearly enough on a daily basis.
The following is just some of what Tate talked about on our trip to and from the doctor that day:
(I tried to write them all down because he made me smile- and laugh inside- so much!)
at the school..."I already feel like a 7 year old. I feel BIG like an already 7 year old. Don't worry, I know I am six, but I feel seven."
in the car leaving the school..."is this the stomach doctor I am going to?" (yes, tate, Dr. Mestre)
"is he the one that got me out of your stomach?" (no, that was a different doctor) "Oh. Did you know I was coming or were you surprised?" (well, we knew you would be coming - just not exactly when) "so, were you surprised when I came out? Did you know you were pregnant?" (well, yes, I knew I was pregnant - and no, not too surprised when you came out - just thankful) "so, how do the doctors know when it is time? for me to come out? Did you hold your stomach and go to the hospital for the doctor to get me out?" (The doctors can tell just about when babies are ready by the date and measuring the mom - no- I didn't have to hold my stomach with you because they planned when you would be born. Tate, where is all this coming from?) "I saw on TLC the show I didn't know I was pregnant and this lady held her stomach because it weighed so much and hurt so bad and she went to the hospital and they helped her get her baby out." - and then we transitioned straight into Meerkats!
"Mom, do you remember Flower? She was the meerkat mom on Meerkat Manor. She died."
(oh, really - how did that happen?) "Well, she came up on a rattlesnake (it was really a cobra) and tried to get another meerkat to help her that had already survived a rattlesnake. But that meerkat wouldn't help her and Flower (pronounced by him as 'Flowa') died. Her babies were prob'ly killed, too." (wow, that is awful, tate) "yeah. Can I have Arby's 'tata' cakes?"
and on we went...."have you ever heard of The Halls of the Mountain King? It was done by 'Mohtzat's' composer. He even wrote the song for the Little Einsteins! I think that was the song - it is a great song!"
and when I tried to assist him in doctor's office bathroom - doing so by going through my "mom's list" of things to do and not to do (don't touch, do wipe good, make sure your underwear is further down so it doesn't get messed up, wash your hands, don't touch the door handle without a paper towel, do flush - can you button your pants back by yourself?) - to which he looked at me with a very exasperated expression (I wonder why now that I have written it all out ;o) "Mom, I think I am old enough to stay in the bathroom by myself. I do this at school, too, you know!"
(you are right, tate - sometimes I forget you can do it) "That's okay, Mom. You can go, though."
and my favorite of the three hours together (well, besides the baby thing)
"Mom, is it good to go through things when you are young because you will go through them in the future?"
Hmmmm, had to think carefully on this one - to me - yes, it is good to experience things young so when you get older you are better prepared, but, too, do you really want your child to experience anything negative? So, I thought about it and then replied - with all my motherly wisdom:
(uhhhh, give me an example of what you mean, tate). "well, you know how last year H was my girlfriend. well, then she started liking someone else at the same time - she cheated on me. does that mean it will always happen again?"
- okay - six?! and we are "cheating"? good grief!
(No, tate - that is not what that means -you are too young to be only liking one person and so is she - this is the time to get to know lots of people and then you will decide what you like in a person and what you don't - then when you get older you will hopefully commit to one person and they will commit only to you - but, if they are older and do cheat then the likelihood that the same person would cheat again is pretty high, but it does not mean a different person would cheat on you.) "Oh, okay, *pause inserted for his reflection* - so it IS okay to like more than one person at my age?" (Yes.)
And that was it on that subject - there is so much more where Tate is concerned - like getting his baseball jersey and it having the number 2 on it - he immediately thought that made him always get to bat second - or when he hits - goes to first and then is hit in by another batter - he feels he got a 'home run'. I love that spirit!! I love how he makes me smile just by talking about nothing.
Is it just this age?
I think for me it is a combination of lots of things - 1st : he is still very demonstrative and loving. 2nd: I don't seem to tick him off as easily as I do my 'tween' girls. 3rd: he is still discovering so much and I LOVE that (because he thinks I still know so much! ;o) } 4th: I spent so much time with him as an infant when he was so very, very ill so I appreciate the 'little' things more. 5th: yes, that is it - the knowledge that every day is a gift and I really should slow down and appreciate it so much more - and that he is my last. Having had two others literally back to back I wasn't able to appreciate the small moments nearly enough - with him I know better than to not enjoy them. It is all so fleeting!
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