A Little Mix-Up

Three-year-old Christopher cracked me up. He was really trying to learn new words, but sometimes things just got confusing.

When we were out and about, the children frequently asked me to park close to a store entrance. I had recently explained how some parking spaces were reserved for people with handicaps and how we couldn't park in those spaces. So the next time Christopher and I were out shopping together, he was quick to remind me not to park in those "Handy Manny" spaces. No, Christopher, it's handicap spaces.

Photo Source: Internet

Photo Source: Internet

 

Next thing I know, Chet got tickets for a baseball game in Grand Rapids and was planning to take the children with him. Christopher was so excited to go see the "Handicaps" play ball. No, Christopher, it's the Whitecaps.

Photo Source: Internet

Poor guy... It's exhausting trying to keep all these new words straight!

Natural Compassion

My favorite Sarabeth quote from one year ago (when she was seven, almost eight), upon bringing some flowers in from the yard:

"There... I rescued these flowers from that harsh and cruel wind."

Good Advice

Posted on our refrigerator by six-year-old Sarabeth:


Tips of Good Manners

1. Do not talk with your mauth full.

2. Be clen.

3. Do not yell.

4. Do nice things for peple.

Pass...

So yesterday in science we were learning about the process of photosynthesis. At the end of the lesson, I asked the children some review questions about the information we had discussed.

The first question went to Christopher: What color is chlorophyll?
"Green!" he shouted. "That is SO easy. Ask me a harder question!"

Okay, Christopher, next question: What is photosynthesis?
Christopher stared at me in silence.
Finally he spoke... "That's Sarabeth's question."

Listening...

Recently Christopher gave Sarabeth $4 he'd saved from his allowance, to help her buy a Barbie doll she'd been saving up to buy. Afterward, he said he didn't want to give her the money but he felt like he had to. I quickly asked him if Sarabeth was pressuring him to give her the money. I wanted him to know that he did not have to give her money. He assured me that, no, she wasn't pressuring him. Then he quietly explained, "God is pressuring me, and I'm pressuring me. I don't want to give her the money, but I have to do it."

May I be as sensitive to the Holy Spirit as is my little boy....

There's Hope for Me

So yesterday morning I changed clothes a couple of times while getting ready for church. Nothing fit right. Ugh! I was complaining about being fat, and Sarabeth insisted that I'm not fat. Then I said that I'm plump, at the very least. At that point, Sarabeth encouraged me by explaining: "Plump is good! Plump is what fairy godmothers are; plus, it's good for giving hugs."

I feel so much better now....

Give Him a Break

Sarabeth and Christopher have always loved Culver's -- the cheeseburgers and the custard especially -- and Mommy and Daddy love a kid-friendly restaurant!

One day at Culver's, when Christopher was just a year old, Chet was scolding him for screaming inside the restaurant. Three-year-old Sarabeth immediately chastened her father: "Daddy, he's just a baby. He doesn't know better. Don't fuss at my brother."