Let me tell you about the week we've had. It was mostly quiet to begin with... made progress on re-organizing my kitchen cabinets, unpacked some boxes from storage, threw a ton of crap away! John has been working hard on building his new shop, and all the other usual stuff that goes with having two small children.
On Friday, we were on our way to the baby-sitter's, and Zach was talking about trains. Kyle was admiring "The Boots"... our babysitter lives near the base of The Buttes. :)
Out of no where, Zach asks "Mom, do you think God knows I want to drive steam engines when I grow up?"
I told him I was sure he did, but we'd be sure to add it in our prayers. I wanted to cry... it was just so sweet that his heart is so pure.Then, that afternoon at work, I got a 'walk-in' client. Her hair had been destroyed at another hair salon, and I didn't even know if I'd be able to fix it. She sat down, and started telling me about herself- I was trying to gauge how short we could go- the stronger the personality, usually the shorter you can cut their hair. There wasn't much left to cut...
Somehow in our conversation, she mentions she was a hurricane Katrina survivor. She is a nurse, and after returning to her home to salvage what she could, she found herself ankle deep in water. Her home was 26 steps above ground, and she thought she could retrace her steps back to her car. Her car was floating away, and she said she thought she could swim to the neighbors' roof.
She said the current was so swift, she looked up and saw a sea-turtle, tasted salt water, and knew her time was up.
I discovered myself sitting on a stool, listening to her story. She ended up homeless for 14 months, and came to California with a 'traveling' nurse's program to make some money. She's had one tough time of it, and luck has not been kind to her. She can't even get her furniture from a local store, because it's going out of business- and they're thieves.
I got back to her cut, and decided it would be the best cut she's ever had. I worked on her for almost an hour, and when she was done... it looked like she'd meant to cut her hair short and sassy! She even cracked a smile.
That's why I love my job.
So, I was feeling pretty good. It always feels nice to know you might have made a difference- for the better- in some one's life.
Then after a long, long day on Saturday I came home to hear my precious little boy tell a lie- right to my face.
Zach had been pestering John all day about building his train track. He has it in his head, that we are going to build a train table, and his HO scale train (fragile, and not kid approved) as soon as possible. John keeps trying to explain to him that we don't have the room, and most of his trains are now are in need of repair.
It had worn on my nerves after 20 minutes, I can only imagine John's frustration after the entire day. I heard Zach in the bathroom asking John about it, and he responded "No Zach, we're not setting it up... and stop asking about it. The answer is no."
So imagine my surprise, when my cute little innocent baby boy says to me "Mom, Dad said to get the train down, it's okay to set it up now."
Not only was it a lie, it was deceitful, and manipulative. (Did I just type those words describing my son?)
It broke my heart. :(
He's such a kind hearted little boy, I just couldn't believe the day finally arrived that he's willing to tell a lie to manipulate the situation. What happened to that pure little heart that I was bragging about less than 24 hours prior?
I am sure all mom's eventually go through this. It's just the first time I've seen him do it... and it stung a bit.
I always remember my Grandma saying, "It's not what you do when people are watching.. it's what you do when no one's looking that counts."
And in the grand scheme of things, it's not even on the rector map when it comes to the tragedy and heartbreak some people have gone through. I know that, I had just hoped to stay up on my cloud a little longer.
Ahhh... the joys of motherhood. I suppose it's part of growing up, and I know we'll get through this hurdle too, and there will be even bigger 'whoppers' to deal with.
We had a much better day, today. He even apologized to us... and John set up a 'table' for his wooden track outside...
And I spent the day cleaning out the closets for the new clothes. Well, new for Zach... hand me down's for Kyle... and a big ol' bag of clothes to another home. It always makes me a little sad to see how fast they are growing- and those labels make it loud and clear.
As do those lessons we all have to learn. :)
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