Friday, July 18, 2008

I'd rather live in his world than live without him in mine


Due to my husband's outrageously long work commute, I get to spend a lot of special alone time with our children; it is usually around 6:00 pm that my standards for what defines an acceptable way to entertain oneself are significantly lowered - particularly if the activity in question involves no whining, bickering, or tattling. So earlier this week when my "growing more tired and irritable by the second" young son walked into the kitchen to ask if he could paint his train tracks, I said "Oh my gosh, yes" and then savored the next thirty minutes of relative peace and harmony within our household. When dinner was finally prepared, I called for him, then he called back to me to show me how much progress he'd made on his art project. And what I found was actually quite mesmerizing, in a Dr. Suess or Willy Wonka sort of way. "I love it!" I assured him, making eye contact and everything instead of answering distractedly with a limp and wilting "That's nice," and he was happy.

2 comments:

Has said...

Are you saying you let him paint his Thomas the Tank Engine track? Wow you're a relaxed mum! It looks really cool!

Molly Sabourin said...

Oh no, not "Thomas" tracks! These were some old ones we have kept on our porch which got wet once, and then kind of gross looking. The paint was a big improvement!