Sometimes kids like to whine.
I always listen to Beckett’s complaints about this or that because I know there will come a time in the near future when he will not be so forthcoming with his concerns. However, most of the time I have to admit the issues that cause him the most consternation are pretty silly. That’s a good thing considering he’s just 7 years old.
Of late, Beckett’s chief complaint has involved his school uniform. He has the option of gray pants with a button-down shirt and tie or a turtleneck, white or blue. We make him go the tie route on school picture days, but for the most part he always goes with the turtleneck because it’s more comfortable and not “so fancy,” as he likes to refer to it.
He has been harping on the fact he has to wear a uniform and how it’s unfair that his little brother does not. Just about every morning when the boys are getting dressed Beckett points out how he’s jealous of his little brother.
After several days of complaining, I finally got to the bottom of it. The reason why he doesn’t want to wear his uniform is because he has to tuck in and it makes going to the restroom a little more difficult because he has to wear pants with a zipper and a belt.
It wasn’t too hard to figure out because he essentially acted out his beef one morning in the bathroom. He proceeded to compare the steps he has to go through compared to his little brother, who usually wears pants with an elastic waistline without zippers and does not tuck in.
After hearing Beckett’s concerns, Carson tucked in his shirt to make his brother feel better. That turned into a contest to decide who could pull their pants up higher.
“I won, mine are up to my armpits,” said Beckett, giving us all a good laugh at 7 in the morning and himself some discomfort.
Life is too difficult not to appreciate the great moments.
One of those for me came this week when I spent some time in Carson’s classroom.
As part of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and Read Across America Day, I got to read to Carson and his kindergarten class at OCES this week.
Carson was quite excited about this in the days leading up to it and I so wish I had a photo of the look he gives me and/or his mom when we come into classroom. Although I assume he’s been waiting for us, that look of joy and surprise never gets old.
While I read to him and a classmate, he kept his arm around me the entire time, as if to hold me from going anywhere else. When I told him he didn’t have to worry and that I’m not going anywhere, he squeezed harder.
After it was his turn to rotate to the next parent reading a different Dr. Seuss book, he came over a few times and gave me a big blindside hug. It apparently meant a lot to him for me to be there.
Since life is one huge roller coaster ride full of extremes at times, particularly when it comes to raising my kids, these sorts of moments mean the word to me and I cherish them. The fact it makes my son so happy is a bonus.
Checking in on my kids before calling it a night can be quite funny.
We just never know what state of sleep we are going to find them in.
Most of the time they are under the covers and there’s nothing remarkable to see, although I will never take a sleeping child for granted after experiencing the horror that came with getting them to sleep when they were younger.
Pam and I spent many nights running up and down the steps trying to get them to sleep before oftentimes just lying in their room or on their bed with them until they were out for the count.
These days bedtime is routine but it’s a habit to peek into their room and make sure everything is good before we turn in.
One night recently I walked into Beckett’s room and he was not in bed. It turns out he had fallen off his bed, but had somehow managed to get his xBox controller in his hand. On many nights, he is spread out in various forms of disarray with covers all over the place and rarely covering him. On many nights, when I go to cover him back up, he is cuddling with a soccer ball or football or clenching a Pokémon card.
If he doesn’t fall asleep while one of us is reading or praying with him, Carson usually falls asleep with a book on his chest or on his head. The exception being a recent night when he gathered together all his Mickey Mouse stuffed animals in his bed for what looked like a sleepover when I walked into his room. There he was crammed into a small sliver of his bed with all these stuffed animals taking up most of the bed.
That was the same night we got a call from Mickey himself, letting us know he and his crew were looking forward to our return trip next week.