The things I know

I've been doing a lot of yard work lately. On Monday, I was ticked at Sloan so I decided to rake leaves until I cooled off. I raked for four and a half hours. What, you may ask, had Sloan done? (This is really embarrassing.) He was nauseated and decided to take a nap. And I was mad. Literally, I'm raking and raking, thinking, "He is gone so much with his job and when he is home, he gets sick. He should be out here raking leaves with me. How dare he sleep while I slave away." That poor poor man. It is only fitting that later that night I was so sore I needed help changing into my pajamas. And I've continued to rake and bag each day since. I've even added cutting limbs off trees and I must say, I'm quite fond of manual labor. Who knew?

But as I've been raking and bagging and fuming and chopping, I've also been listening on my Ipod to this Parenting Class my pastor is doing. It is funny, enlightening, encouraging, and certainly helpful. And in the last class he stated that in order to properly raise and love our children, we have to know them. Their likes, their dislikes, their temperaments, their dreams, their gifts and their weaknesses. That we must remember our children are not problems to be dealt with, but persons made in the image of God who are to be loved and related to.

All this sounds well and good until I'm faced with this little guy who lives in my house who speaks in a series of clicks, babbles, and hand gestures. I liken it to having invited a tribesman to come live with me. Henry will look at me and be "talking" up a storm and I'll think, "Man, I'm usually pretty good at kidspeak, but all I got from that speech was "Woo woo yeah yeah doo doo choo choo wow."

But so far, this is what I know.

• Henry loves to do puzzles and is actually pretty good at them.


• He has excellent small motor skills. His fork and spoon skills are well above average for his age. He is also capable of devouring chicken pot pie with a fork and maneuvering his way around all of the vegetables.


• Also about food--the more flavor the better. Bring on the garlic. Bring on the peppers. He has attempted to drink salsa, and thinks that crab stuffed mushrooms are the best thing since bacon.


• Do not interupt him when he is drinking. The boy is a chugger. Were you to see him attack him sippy cup, you'd think he'd just been in the dessert. He'll chug down half of the cup, take a big breath, and then finish it off. It's hilarious. He'll probably win contests in college.


• Henry is not a people person. He's cool if you want to come play with him, but do not expect an invitation. He'd much rather play with his cars or his trains than talk to you. This trait will probably make him popular with the ladies.


• Henry likes things done properly. Each train engine must use it's proper tender. And he is well aware that Percy and Thomas do not use tenders, so please, don't attempt to give Thomas Edward's tender because that's just silly and will make him laugh at you. But he's cool if you want to mix it up a bit, and will even play with your crazy Henry engine, Annie, Clarabel, James tender configuration, but in awhile, he'll put things straight again. And if you really want to get in his good graces, put on the Thomas the tank engine show while he plays with his trains. He also enjoys pulling out the Thomas books and looking at them while the show is on. (But do not let the pulling out of all the Thomas books fool you. He doesn't want you to read them to him. He just wants to flip the pages himself and occasionally say, "Poop poop!")


• Henry has a wee bit of a temper. If you put him down for a nap when he is not ready, he will throw all of his animals and blankets out of his crib. Then he will remove his clothing. Then he will begin to tear the crib sheet off the bed. I'm just praying he never figures out how to climb out of the crib.


• Henry loves his daddy. He will crawl up into Sloan's lap and let him read his books over and over. His current books that we read non-stop are "Thank you Clifford", "Henry in the Tunnel", and "Go Dog, Go!"


• Henry thinks I have a beautiful singing voice. His favorite songs for me to sing to him are "Jesus Loves Me", "Jesus loves the little children", and "Beautiful Boy." But he does NOT like the songs "You are my sunshine", "He's got the whole world in His hands" or anything from the musical Oklahoma. (Sloan finds this last fact reassuring.)

But the most shocking thing I learned from Henry today was his willingness to obey even when it was obvious that he did not want to. I have no idea where he gets this from, as I have yet to learn this quality.

It was time to put away the trains and get ready for dinner. And he cheerfully put away the tracks, clapping for himself as each piece was tossed into the train basket. (Recognize that playing with trains means that we usually have about 10 trains out with their various tenders, cars, and accessories, in addition to the tracks and buildings.) But as it became time to put away Spencer, Sir Handel, and the beloved dairy cars, Henry started to cry. I looked at him and said, "Put the trains away, Henry." He pulled the engines up to his chest. I tossed James into the basket and said, "Good job, Mommy!" Henry cried, "No" and dropped the engines on the floor. "Put the trains away, Henry." And through his tears and his little voice chirping "No no no no no no" he bent down, and one by one, he put his trains in the basket. I have never clapped so loud for my son, nor have I ever been so proud.

Doing the right thing when you want to do it is easy. But to do the right thing even though it breaks your heart, even though it is inconvenient, doesn't feel good, and pretty much puts an end to a good time--this is beyond difficult. And I don't think I've ever done it.

But my little man has and it makes me wonder, who are you little Henry? And where the heck did you come from?