I'm trying to understand what it is about Target that makes my kids go gangsta' on me. Doesn't my seven year old and 14 month old know the only acceptable place to act a fool is at Wal Mart?
A few weeks ago Garrison decided to pull his jacket hood over his head (and eyes) the entire time we were in Target. I didn't think much of it until I asked him a question and he interrupted me with this gem of a comment, "SSSSHHH! I'm a secret spy and you can't see me!". Now most normal moms would tell their kid to cut that out but not me. I decided to play along. (After all, where do you think he got his weirdness from?) So a few aisles over as a guy was passing us I said, "If there are any secret spies around maybe they can help me pick out what kind of chips they want for lunch this week." My humor was not taken well from the passing man or my son, I mean, secret spy. The man gave me a You belong in Wal Mart look and then gave Garrison a You belong in foster care look. Garrison pulled up his hood, gave a dramatic sigh and reminded me once again he was a secret spy.
I made him re-enact his look when we got home and I just have to share it with you.
Today we pulled into the Target parking lot and Garrison was laughing hysterically. I got out and went to pull Ethan out of the car seat and this is what I saw.
I told Ethan he could only go shirtless in Wal Mart. Poor thing just isn't old enough yet to know the difference between these two fine retailers.
Open Your Eyes, Juliana
I was driving to work on Friday morning in a pretty bad mood. With four hours of interrupted sleep the night before and no coffee yet that morning I felt somewhat justified for being in that kind of mood. I was getting frustrated with traffic and hitting every red light. I hit yet another red light and after a big dramatic sigh (you know the one ladies) I shook my head (why do we do that?) and looked out my window into the gas station parking lot.
The scene I took in felt like a hard punch in the stomach. There was a man in dirty clothes with a backpack on scarfing down some type of food so fast I couldn't even see what he was eating. He then walked over to the trash can to throw away his trash and started looking in the trash - I assume to see if there was anything else he could eat.
I literally started crying. Shame on me! I heard a voice in my head as clear as day - "Open your eyes, Juliana!". Open your eyes to what is going on around you. That man probably gets four hours of interrupted sleep every night. That man probably goes to bed not knowing if he will wake up alive. That man has no family that he can go visit and have a great time with that afternoon. Again I say, shame on me! It's moments like this where I am confident how well God knows me. He knows that I need a punch in the stomach, a big heaping dose of reality, a humbling moment in times like that. I immediately thanked God for all of my blessings - for my family, for my health, for my job, for my marriage, for my healthy kids and for his grace.
Amazing Love
After a long (but fun) weekend in Houston with my sister and family I found myself exhausted with a lot to do around the house. Tonight I was over relaxing and catching up on some blogs. I had already put Ethan down but Garrison was sitting next to me on the couch watching t.v. I am normally SO good about staying off my phone and the computer while my boys are around but I justified it by thinking I had just spent four straight days with them and just wanted some relaxing time for myself. At that moment I came across a friend's blog talking about how she too recognized the importance of staying off technology while her boys were awake. If they were watching t.v. for a little bit she would watch with them. If they were eating lunch she would eat with them. Thank you Sarah! After reading that blog I immediately got off the computer and spent some quality time with Garrison before bed.
When I tucked him in he asked if I would sing him a song. He hasn't asked for a song in a long time and I know that the day will come when he would rather listen to some horrible music through headphones at bed time than hear me sing to him. :) I gave him some choices and he chose "Amazing Love".
He joined in which was a shock to me because I didn't realize he knew the words. I then asked if I could record him. My intention was not to post this on Facebook or my blog but my blog has become a family memory book of sorts and I wanted to document how incredibly sweet this boy was at the age of seven (and hopefully always will be). I think the camera made him a bit nervous because he waited a while to join in. :)
And once again I find myself asking God why He gave me such incredible children. I am humbled and honored to be their mom.
Jewels*
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