The Smarts

Parenting really is a joy. Sometimes there are those rough spots, but overall the joys make it all worth it. Some parents might not agree I suppose. I haven't had to watch my kids suffer (thinking of my friend Mauri and her new baby Tanzi and my brother Jason and his son Connor).

Everyone asks if Hank is a good baby. I ask the same question to other new mothers. He has his good days and bad days just like the rest of us. I've been thinking, what baby isn't a "good baby." Some babies cry more than others or have a hard time sleeping, but does that make them bad? I think not.

Babies are such angels, so close to heaven, they are all good I like to think.

Robert is so funny. He's starting to answer questions with real answers instead of imagined answers--He's 2 and a half. We are really trying to teach him to be obedient and mind and he's catching on quickly. Just like the rest of us, he also has some days better than others. When he's not minding I call his attention to it and ask him to tell me what I asked him to do. Then I ask if he's minding me. Sometimes he says, "Yes, I am, " even if he's not so I point out what he IS doing and say, "you're not minding me. I asked you to . . ."

So yesterday I was in the front yard trimming our roses and he was outside playing. He climbed into the bed of our pickup truck (by himself--he's getting so big). He played there for a bit and then swung his leg over the tail-gate to climb down. His foot dangled about 2 inches above the bumper. I told him if he reached his foot a little bit more he could stand on the bumper and climb down. It was a little scary so he climbed back into the bed of the truck. I walked over to give him some moral support and told him again how close he was and encouraged him to try again. He asked if I would put "this" (the tale-gate) down. I encouraged him again to swing his leg back over and reach for the bumper.

Then with a stern look on his face he looked at me squarely and said, "Mama, you're not minding me. Please put this down." While he still has a lesson to learn that Mamas and Papas don't do the minding of their children, but children are to mind their parents, I saw that this was a situation that I needed to "mind." So, I put the tale-gate down and told him we could try reaching for the bumper next time. He promptly climbed down and moved on to the next thing.