Mr. C and Little E
Recently, Mr. C made a connection that I would love for him to take to heart. We were in the car listening to Christian radio when a speaker started saying, “Your work is your ministry…how you treat your customers, how you treat your employees…” I didn’t even know Mr. C was listening until he piped up and said, “How you treat your toys!” I never thought about my kids’ ministry to their toys before.
The kids and I were heading into Target with a cart stacked up high with two gigantic boxes of diapers to exchange for another brand. Mr. C looked at the diapers and said, “If JP goes number 2, you’ll be able to change his diaper?” Wow, he must think I’m a really prepared mom!
Mr. C is always coming out with new words that surprise me, and even when it’s the first time he’s used a word, he’s completely certain of how it should be used. The other day, he was watching JP bouncing away as usual, and he said, “He’s bouncing with galore!” When I finally figured out exactly what he had said (I didn’t expect that word from him, nor did I expect it used quite in that way), I said, “He’s bouncing galore, huh?” Mr. C nodded, but then corrected me, “No, he’s bouncing with galore!”
My boy loves to tease me. Hmm, I wonder where he gets that? A while ago, though, I thought he was going to be sweet. He said, “Mama’s a queen!” I got that little flutter of happiness inside, thinking that my normally non-complimentary boy had said something nice to me, and I exclaimed, “Oh, thank you!” That’s when he said, “Mama’s a bad queen!”
No, Mr. C is not usually real cuddly, but I love to kiss and hug him anyway despite his grinning protests. It wasn’t abnormal, therefore, when he responded to one of my kisses this way: “You poked my eye with your kiss!”
Mr. C loves his sister. It was hard at the beginning to have two kids twenty months apart, but now I’m very thankful for the friends they are to each other much of the time. Sometimes Mr. C takes his older brother role and teaches his little sister the ways of the world. Recently, I overheard him telling her, “You know, superheroes don’t go potty, E.”
Other times, Little E is the one more in charge. One night I called out, “Dinner’s ready!” Mr. C sang out with relief in his voice, “Yay! Dinner’s ready! I get to be saved!” Confused, I asked, “Saved?” He answered, “From getting a dress put on me.” I looked to see Little E trailing behind, holding out a makeshift dress made out of one of her pink blankets.
Sometimes, they even spend time together nicely. After we ate some food from Chick Fil-A one night (as opposed to M Chick Fil A, which is what Little E thinks McDonald’s is called), Mr. C was feeling pretty full. He said, “I’m fat,” with his belly sticking out. He turned to his little sister and said, “Do you want to sit for a while, E, while we’re fat?”
I love it when they join in to say something nice to me–ok, maybe this is the only time they did this together, and I’m not positive they knew they were giving me a compliment, but I’ll take it anyway.
E: Are you small, Mama?
Me: Um, I don’t know–what do you mean, honey?
E: Are you small?
Me: Do you think I’m small?
E: Yes.
C: Yes, you’re small, Mama, you’re small.