Do I have to choose? Cuz I know which one is winning right now!
I have a good friend here. I was excited to get to know her for four initial reasons:
1) Her son is in my Primary class and made a classic 11 year old boy statement I like to share and remember often.
2) She mentioned in a talk that she joined the church in college. That's just so exciting to me because many leave faith and values behind as they enter young adulthood and the halls of higher learning.
3) Her husband is an Army chaplain and I wondered what that meant.
4) Her son had mentioned he was home schooled and I'm intrigued by home schooling / co-op logistics.
Wanna hear the classic 11 yr old statement? Here goes.
My friend's family often isn't able to stay through all the meetings because of their chaplain duties. I teach during the third hour so we often don't get to see her son. One Sunday last spring, her son was able to be in my class. My class is typically all girls but we combined with another class that day so I had a few other boys too. Having the 10-11 yr olds is pretty comical when you get a mix. Everyone's a bit more frisky and asserting themselves.
We were doing a scripture hunt/small group activity and one of the boys asked one of the girls for help. My friend's son gave the boy a hard time saying incredulously, "You're letting a GIRL help you?!"
As the kids were finishing up their scripture hunt, I turned to him sitting next to me and quietly asked, "Didn't you say you were home schooled?"
He replied, "Yeah."
I said, "So you're mom's your teacher?"
Again, another "Yeah." Like, Duh! his look patiently said.
And I said, "Ya know, your mom's a GIRL and I imagine she helps you all the time with your school work."
He emphatically replied, "My mom's not a GIRL! She's a MOM!"
I got a good chuckle at this and shared it with his mom the first time we met a couple weeks later. As a mom with young little ones, the comment also just highlights how I've felt a lot lately. My role as mom often overshadows any girly part of me. Spit up, slobbered goobers, and changing dirty diapers have inspired more of a utilitarian wardrobe rather than cute, girly one and that’s just the tip of the iceberg here. It was greatly apparent to me this week as I began taking Easton to meet the bus by 7:20.
I show up in a sweat shirt and some version of expand-o-matic pants. No shower. No makeup. Usually I've at least brushed my hair and teeth. Definitely not America’s Next Top Model which I saw a snippet of last night to help reinforce these thoughts. Easton has three tasks in the morning - Eat, Brush Teeth, and Get Dressed. We're a simple operation thus far and I hope to step it up a bit once we're a bit more acclimated to the routine. However, being girly has not entered the equation and I don't know when it will.
I'm inspired by my friend who always looks great even at the 7:20 bus stop, all ready for the day. She's got kids all the ages mine are so I know lookin' good can happen. I just hope I can be like her when I grow up! Apparently a mortgate, car payment, and kids don’t qualify me for being a grown up just yet. Will reclaiming my inner girl?
