Mr Sam is on Spring Break this week. I think by law somewhere or another this means I should take him to Florida. Only I do not have the week off myself, not to mention I am driving back to Kansas City for class one more time this weekend. So he is being neglected or abused or just plan disappointed because we are staying here and he is goofing off.
The good news is Mr. Sam appears to find this not a problem so who am I to explain why we aren't in Florida. Mr. Sam is my kind of child. He loves pajama days, he enjoys sleeping in and he loves to read. He thinks this is as exciting as Florida. I tell ya, the kid is a keeper.
We spent the weekend enjoying the local celebration for sweet potatoes (please don't ask me, I merely live here). Today we both enjoyed the pleasure of sleeping in, me longer than Sam, and then we worked a little and stopped at a store and picked up some plants and spent the evening planting most of them. We got gloves that we wore with great pride as if we were Master Gardeners instead of plant destroyers which I suspect we are. We dug, and watered, potted and fed and spruced the place up nicely. I was worn and aching and I was quick to accept the invitation to sit in the chaise lounges and watch for the stars to begin appearing. It took a few minutes, couple of planes pretended to be stars, then the first two appeared. These were delightful and we watched them intently but we still had to wait a bit before they were joined by others. Soon the sky filled with stars. We recognized some constellation groups, which I never do well. I still only get the Dippers and sometimes with great instruction Orion's Belt. It cooled off quickly but it was a great way to relax and rest after a busy day.
Tonight as I drowsily think through the day, I realized that the flowers and vegetables we put in have a 50/50 chance of survival, based on our ability to remember to water. The real stuff we are planting together is the kind of character we are growing up in Mr. Sam. The recognition that time spent together is valuable, even as he is valuable, no matter what we do. That doing things well, making a plan and following through, taking a part in accomplishing a task and contributing to the outcome are all things I want Sam to do naturally. I want him to get excited about life and have a clue what to do with it! I want him to be successful at whatever he chooses to do, not necessarily successful in terms of the worldly definition, but that he can learn to be satisfied when he finishes a project and knows it was well done. I certainly pray those seeds are finding good soil to root in.
We are people of faith and I think we model that for Sam. We take him to church often and we have exposed him to people of great faith, and we have tried to educate him in the faith. We are purposeful in this because it is important to us. I want to be just as purposeful giving him the tools he needs to cope well, to have balance in drive and excellence and the ability to step back and let it go. To find his joy not only in achieving but also in the process of achieving. To remember that God desires more for us than the world can ever offer and he should never settle for it's definition of having arrived.
Gosh that's a lot to grow in the child! Good thing he can speak and will remind me to water him. I have a much better shot of raising this one to maturity!
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