Sanctuary In a Glass of Chocolate Milk...

My Jackie-Boy. He's a sweet, affectionate, cuddly, silly, super smart, super stubborn boy.

Memorial Day '08: Jack showing of his Paddle-Ball tricks

His mother? Is quick to snap, correct, harp and yell. I want my orders to be obeyed before I'm done finishing my sentences (I'm really trying to work on this). And he internalizes the tiniest mistakes and reacts by arguing and being purposely difficult, especially when he feels misunderstood. (Can't say I really blame the kid).


The other day I was just about driven to tears, feeling guilty for having lost it (once again) and being clueless as to any solutions...I have been praying in my heart to figure out how to be better...relate better, with Jack and my other two children.

Tonight at the dinner table, the kids inquired about dessert. Looking at the wreckage that is my kitchen I said, "Not a thing." They looked disappointed. Which is funny to me, because I rarely make dessert.

I came up with a plan. "If you guys go to your rooms and read for an hour (yeah, an HOUR), I'll come get you and we'll have some chocolate milk and maybe we can pick which book we want to read this summer." They readily agreed, and I was glad to have some time to clean up my kitchen (Sam wasn't home). Memorial Day '08: Jack turning Paddle-Ball into a Paddle-Tree

An hour goes by, the kitchen is clean (ahhhh...) and I holler for the kids. Jack comes skipping out of the room saying "Yessss!". No Eddie. No Ada. I go to check on them and they are fast asleep.

So it was just me, Jack and our tall glasses of chocolate milk with straws. He liked watching the milk in the glass lower as he sucked on the straw, and we "raced" a couple of times, but it started making both of us sick. He said cute, silly things and we laughed. It was nice to just listen and watch his sweet face. No grimacing, no ordering, no arguing, no agenda, nowhere to rush to.

Then we went off to bed, and I lay next to him as he read me some Calvin and Hobbes comics. He LOVES this book and I love listening to him crack up whenever he gets to the punch line. And when he asks me what words mean, like; aerobic and perseverance.

He decided he'd had enough, put the book down (I had a book of my own) and kissed me on the cheek.

It was the best. THE BEST. I think we both really, really needed that one on one time. What a blessing.


P.S. Sorry if there are TONS of errors, or if this is extra difficult to read. I'm not proofreading this. I don't have the time.