Most of today has been about reading and praying.  I’ve been reading questions submitted to the “Ask Sheri” column and praying for those sending the questions.  I always get good questions, but this time many of the questions are really very good.  It will be difficult choosing one to answer.  There are about ten on the narrowed down list, and from those  I may have to pick a number from a hat or something.

For right now, I decided to take a break and eat some lunch.  So, while I eat, I’ve decided to share a funny story with you. It has a little to do with Mother’s day but nothing to do with actual rocks.  I thought that might need clarification, since all that’s on my mind – and writing – lately seems to do with annoying construction noises.  But, no real rocks this time.

No, my Mother’s Day was great, and this is all about being a mom … when they love you … and when they don’t.  On Mother’s Day, I woke up to find a sign on my bedroom door that said, “Mom Rocks!”  Then I turned to go downstairs and found another sign that read, “Mom is awsome!”  Descending the stairs had me in the arms of my little boy, embraced in a hug full of love.  He and his dad made be breakfast – with great coffee ;), and my little guy proudly presented me with the rest of his gifts.  One was a beautiful water color picture of a vase with flowers that he’d made in school.  The outside of the vase was decorated with words telling me what he loved about me.

The next gift was a flower pen that he’d purchased a couple of weeks ago at his school economics fair.  I was thoroughly impressed he’d thought of that all on his own and hid it from me all this time.  He even made sure to get me a purple flower because purple is my favorite color.  Then, the final gift was another he’d thought up all on his own.  He wrote me a poem …

“Dear, Mom

I Love you rainy, sunny, windy,

your the best no matter

how many Moms there is

your the best out of

the hole world!”

Fast forward now to last night, when I was not so beloved.  My little guy was very unhappy with me then.  Why?  Because we had an argument, and I won.  Even my husband was tempted to give in to our son’s demands.  He can be a very, very stubborn little boy.  I can’t imagine where he get’s that from, though.  😉

Okay, so here’s what happened.  Baseball practice started last night.  Playing baseball was an okay idea, until my son learned what type of “protective gear” would be required for him to wear.  It was one of those, “You want me to put that where?” moments.  No, I don’t mean a mouth guard.  Think lower.  Yeah, so he decided he hates baseball and never wants to play the stupid game.  How could people be so disgusting?  Baseball is now the thing he hates most in the world.  He screamed and yelled and stomped, but I didn’t give in.

I couldn’t give in.  If I let him quit because he was afraid to wear that thing, what would that mean for him down the road?  Should I say it’s okay to quit when you’re afraid to try something new?  No!  And I don’t care who’s mad at me for standing my ground!  Okay, deep breath … it’s the next day now.  <sigh>

I knew part of his fear was that he was afraid he wouldn’t be as good as the other kids.  It’s been the same with every sport he’s tried.  The first time was with t-ball.  “I hate t-ball, mom.  I don’t want to do it!”  But, by the end of the first game, “T-ball is awesome!”  He loved having the whole family (aunts, uncles, cousin, parents and grandparents) at his games, cheering him on.  Then it was flag football last fall … same exact story.  Then it was swimming.  Once up on a time, he refused to take his shirt off in the pool, at the beach, wherever.  That was fine.  No problem, as long as he had fun.  It didn’t matter what he wore, but he overcame that fear eventually.  Now, he’s in swimming classes, and he loves swimming more than anything else he’s tried so far.  If I’d allowed him to give in to his fears, he would never have tried any of those things and would be missing out on so much of life.  I believed he would loved baseball, too.  He just couldn’t let his fear stand in his way.  I eventually heard the “I love t-ball, football, swimming”, and I believed I would eventually hear the same with baseball, and I told my son that truth.  I promised him that, if he hated it for a real reason, he wouldn’t have to go back.  I would never force him into a sport he honestly didn’t like, but I would never let him quit because of fear.

So, last night, it came down to both my husband and son against me.  My husband was just tired of the drama as this whole issue with the protective gear thing had actually been going on for days but, of course, came to a head last night when practice time came.  Our son had never fought us this hard on anything before in his life, but I fought back and stood my ground.  The worst part, and what made my husband the most frustrated I think, is that I wasn’t going to practice.  My husband had to take him and deal with the drama all by himself because I had appointments last night.  I was creating a problem and handing it off to him.  It wasn’t fair, I know, but I just couldn’t let my son give up just because he was afraid.  He was uncomfortable with the idea of the gear, I get it.  I’m not a boy, but I have to wear gear, too.  I’m sure all ladies would agree when I say that our “gear” isn’t comfortable either.  My husband did agree with me, but he was tired of fighting our son.  I felt bad for them both, but I sent them off to practice. The agreement was he didn’t have to wear the gear to practice last night, but he would have to wear it next practice.  My husband thought going and seeing that the other boys didn’t make such a big deal out of it might make a difference, and I agreed.  We both hoped he wouldn’t learn the need for the gear the hard way at practice, but we let it slide for now.

The night went on.  My appointments went well.  I checked in with my husband and son once they got home from practice, but my son was too tired to talk about it, and I had to get back for my next session.  I was exhausted this morning and barely saw them before they left, but my husband called me a couple of hours ago with the details.  He knew when he saw our son’s face light up as he made a great hit at practice, but he asked this morning at breakfast, “So, what did you think of practice last night?”  He avoided looking at our boy because he felt the smile creeping up, and had to repeat the question before the answer came.  “It was great … just don’t tell mom.”

My husband always says that it’s not worth arguing with me.  In fact, I know he will read this later and have a difficult time resisting leaving his own comments.  He laughs about this all the time.  I am right a lot, but what can you do when your wife is a psychic?  Sorry, babe!  At least you know I love you!  😉  Honestly, everybody, I do have the best husband in the world!  He’s amazingly kind and puts up with all my migraine headaches and crazy dreams.  That really does say a lot about a man.

Wishing you a bit of illumination in your day,

Sheri


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