Taking the road (a little harder and thus) less travelled

Nov. 8, 2009

First of all, I should say that the boys did survive the week without mom around. From all accounts, Annette had a good trip, but I know we were always on her mind (in a good way of course). There was very little cleaning done this week, but the state of the house wasn’t too much worse than how it was when she left.

Everything went pretty well during the week until Wednesday hit, and everything started catching up with us. Time to do some dishes, make a better path from the living room to the kitchen, and get some groceries (especially milk for Nathan’s nighttime routine.) Apparently, Annette was right, the refrigerator doesn’t just stock itself, and food doesn’t magically appear in the cupboards.

Most of the time, when I’ve gone shopping, I try to do it at one of the times when Nathan is either at school or at the sitter, but even that time was lessened this week. Taking Nathan out can be difficult, he never looks comfortable sitting in the cart (now he sits cross-legged in the big part of the cart as he’s too big and doesn’t bend well to sit in the seat anymore.) Knowing the jumbo pack of paper towels was on the list, and some other larger items that would end up burying him were on the list, only added to the question of if I should wait to make the trip. Nathan loves anything to get him out of the house. I finally decided, it’s his birthday, we can’t just sit at home and do nothing. (We also didn’t want to have too much fun without Mom either, she misses out on too many fun things lately.)

I made a list of 4 items from Walmart and 3 items from Kroger. We first went to Walmart and Nathan giggled pulling into the parking lot. As we got there, I handed Nathan the list. He likes to have something to hold, and I liked knowing I wouldn’t forget what pocket I put it in. We went up and down different aisles, picking up the items on the list, and of course several items that we didn’t know we needed until we saw it.

Nathan loves bananas, and being his birthday, I thought I’d check to see how much they were for a treat for the rest of the week. I pulled up to the display which looked like it’s own island. Nathan wasn’t looking at first, but when he turned his head, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He’d never seen so many bananas in his whole life.

If you look closely, you can still see him patting the bananas with his left hand.

He thought his must be God’s fruit stand, where he could eat all the bananas he wanted for days and days. The little fingers tried to find their way through the holes in the cart to reach out and touch them. I grabbed a small bunch and put them in the cart right next to Nathan. He was thrilled, and I found one of his cheapest birthday present ever. He just wanted to touch and pat them. What a prize for being a good shopper!

Eventually we made it to the check out and I emptied the items onto the conveyor belt. As I got the last item up, I looked back and saw Nathan waving the list at me. I thought he was taunting me saying, “We came here for 4 items and I counted 16 on the belt.” The clerk kindly asked me how I was doing and I replied, “I think my son is mocking me.” Nathan just smiled at both the clerk and me.

We got all the items paid for and headed to Kroger. Again, the list of three items, grew, but not as badly this time and we headed to the check out. This time when moving items to the belt, I looked back early on. What I saw made me smile. The little guy, with his skinny arms was reaching over, trying to grab a tomato and reach up as high as he could hoping he could put it on the belt too. That's why he was waving the list, it was all he could hold and lift before. He only wanted to do his part to help his dad anyway he could. Now who's the one getting presents on Nathan's birthday?! I put one of the bags next to him on the way out to the car and he felt like a real shopper, heading out of the store with his groceries.

This is just one more example of how it's often worth trying the thing that's a little more difficult or uncomfortable. The same thing held true breaking our easy Sunday routine staying in, rather than getting Nathan up, fed and dressed and all of us heading off to chuch. When we made that a priority, other skills emerged as well, as well as all the new friends Nathan has there. When you think you're out of energy and just can fight the fight, God shows time after time that He will provide and make us prosper.

Now that Annette’s home, we can make a bigger deal of the little guy’s birthday. Sunday afternoon we got him his own little 5” cake and we plan to let him dive into it, but with gymnastics. Sunday, aquatics Monday and horseback riding Wednesday we better fit it in Tuesday night. Everyday is a celebration with Nathan, and everyday is another blessing. His smiles are his gift he shares with all everyday, and his love will never grow old. Happy fourth birthday Nathan, you’re the best son any parent could hope for.

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