What Noah learns at Church

Last week, on the way home from Church, Noah handed me the paper he'd drawn in his Primary class, saying, "Look, Mom!" I took the paper and read the top: I will obey my mother and father. Yep, I like it. What a great lesson, I thought. And then I kept reading. Coming out of the stick figure mother (or rather me) are the words: "Go play video games!" And Noah's stick figure replies: "Ok." And coming out of Dad's stick figure are the words: "If you eat candy, I will give you a 100$ (sic)" And Noah once again responds with, "Ok."
Wow, even in cartoon strips, he's obedient.
I couldn't help laughing out loud. I love how he twists those lessons to meld with his fantasy world. Funny boy!

Mommy-Son Outing

Noah was a little bothered by the term "date" so instead he wanted to call it a Mommy-Son outing! He sure is growing up fast. A few weeks ago when I was at the local library, I saw a sign saying that any child over six who reads ten books could get two free tickets to a play at BYU. Since Noah had just finished reading his 300th book (he started counting last summer), I snagged tickets. Thursday, we went and saw the "Mysteries of Monster Grove". The play was based on stories by Rick Walton, who taught a children's writing class I attended several years ago at BYU. It was a cute little play and Noah and I had a GREAT time. He seemed to really enjoy the play. He laughed a lot. What a great sound.

Afterwards, I told him I would take him to get an ice cream cone, but ever the frugalist, he decided that if I were going to spend money on him, well why not get a toy instead? So, we headed over to the Dollar store where Noah picked out some bungee cords. I pointed them out, thinking he may have a fun time building with them. He is really into building things nowadays and I have been saving up all kinds of cereal boxes and stuff for him to build with. I'm so glad we got to have a fun night out. It's just so refreshing to have alone time with each of my kids.

Noah's Journal Entry

I went to Noah's school on Monday for the First Grade program. Noah brought me his portfolio and it was really fun to look through. It showed his first journal entry of the year which only had about two sentences. Then it showed a current journal entry. This is what it said:

My Dad

I love my Dad. I like to bild with my Dad. we bilt a plane. We bilt a car. My Dad ses we are friends and we are! My Dad is fun and cool! I and my Dad love Legos. My Dad is sooooooo fun! We both like hot sos. (sauce) I love my Dad sooooooooooooo much! We both have black hair my Dad is soooooo cool!

My heart just swelled with joy as I read this sweet little journal entry.

Noah's Primary Talk

Noah was assigned to give a Primary talk last week. (Primary is where the children go to learn about Jesus and Heavenly Father while the adults attend Sunday School classes and such- it is an amazing program where many volunteers work tirelessly to teach our children) Noah was very chill about the whole thing- previously we have had tantrums, and much fighting to get through it. It really was a trial for him to prepare the talk, then get up in front of everyone and give it!

But this time, when I asked when he would like to prepare, he wanted to right after he was done playing. Since this was his third time giving a talk, I wanted him to pretty much write the whole thing, and I was so pleased when he did. Of course, I gave him ideas and examples, but he wrote it. It was such an amazing moment. One of those times when you savor being a parent because you get to watch your child accomplish things that were previously beyond their abilities! I felt such joy. We practiced a few times each day- he loved calling different people and asking if he could practice on them.

Then the big day arrived. When my Mom called, he practiced on her. He was absolutely beaming afterward. I could hear her praising him and I knew he felt such a sense of accomplishment. I was especially glad that he was doing so great, because I was giving the lesson in Relief Society (our church's society for women where we learn together and serve each other- it's a worldwide thing!)

But as things go . . . an hour before church, Noah absolutely REFUSED to get dressed for church and added that he was NOT going to church and definitely NOT giving his talk. Our church doesn't start til afternoon, so he'd had all morning to get dressed! The look on his face was completely surprising- he looked angrier than I'd ever seen him. I had no idea why the sudden change. I tried to talk to him, see if maybe he was nervous, but he clammed up. He even went as far as to RIP his talk up. Luckily the night before I had printed off an extra! (Huge blessing!)

All I could do was pray. I prayed desperately that I would know what to do and how to help him. He had been doing so great! What was going on? Little by little, I was led what to do- I offered to help him get dressed (I know, he's 6!) and he consented, glaring at me, his eyebrows scrunched, the entire time. It was shocking, because this kind of anger is just so rare for him. By a miracle, we were able to get to church, even somewhat on time. I kept praying that Noah's heart would be softened and that mine would be too. It was so hard to not absolutely lose it with him, but I knew that would only make a bad situation worse. Throughout sacrament meeting, he seemed happy and I had felt that I shouldn't respond when he told me he wasn't giving his talk. I just didn't say anything. Then the meeting was over and it was time for Primary.

"Mom, can I have my talk?" Noah asked sweetly. He even sounded a bit excited.

I acted unphased, though inside, I was jumping around, excited. "Here you go," I said calmly, pulling it out of my bag.

When I came in to see him, he was sitting at the front of the primary room, looking like the everyday Noah I know and love.

When it was his turn, he got up more confidently than I had seen in the past and delivered his talk:
"I love Jesus and He has given me a gift and that gift is Him. He has given me many more things and I am thankful for every one of them. I am going to tell a story.

One day my Mom hurt her back. She couldn’t even walk, so I did chores and brought her breakfast to help her. I felt a good feeling, and I knew that was coming from Heavenly Father.
This is how I show my love for Jesus. I pray and I serve and I keep the commandments and if you do those things too then you can be like Heavenly Father and Jesus."

Tears came to my eyes as I watched my formerly angry boy, calmly reading his talk, stopping at all the right places and having perfect intonation. My heart was just SO full after everything we had been through. I felt so blessed that Heavenly Father had heard and answered my prayers. He sat down with his class and I stole over and hugged him before leaving to go to my own class. And the funny thing is, I wouldn't trade that day at all- the bitterness of the morning made the sweetness of the afternoon much more exquisite.

Mario Kart and the many lessons learned

We have a rule in our house that Noah can only play video games on Saturday. (In addition, he has to do six chores before he plays, and wow, is he motivated!) He has a tendency to get "obsessed", so we try to monitor as best we can. It's one of those things that we are trying to have a good balance of moderation. I don't have a problem with clean video games, I only have a problem when they are played for hours.

Noah would beg me to play with him, but if I won, he was super upset. He just doesn't get enough game time to improve as fast as he wants. So, this particular Saturday, he won first place and was thrilled.

"I can't wait to tell Daddy!" he exclaimed, but then quickly looked downtrodden. "But he won't believe me," he added.

"Yes, he will," I said.

"No, he won't," Noah argued.

I tried to convince Noah that I would vouch for him, but he was convinced Daddy would not believe him, since he had lied to Daddy recently. Brad had several talks with him about not being able to believe Noah because of the lies.

Which was a great teaching opportunity for me. So we talked about lying and the consequences and then we worked out a solution that Noah was happy with. We took a picture as proof.

I think it was a great moment for him, in several ways, but I think it really hit home that you have to tell the truth if you want people to believe you.

Then last Saturday, Noah had us cracking up. He chose a lighter car, and different characters and was winning every race. He would yell up the stairs "I won! I can't believe it! I don't know how I got so good!"

He was in awe of his awesomeness. It was hilarious! He just kept repeating over and over in amazement "I don't know how I got so good!"

I tried to explain that different carts handle differently, and that this was obviously the cart he should always play, but I don't think he got it. We will see what happens next Saturday . . .

Dear Noah,
I feel like I will never stop learning things about you. It is interesting that in difficult situations, we see what some people are made of. My back went out the other day, and I explained to you and Amalie what had happened and that I needed extra help, since it was hard for me to get around. You said okay, but I honestly didn't expect all that much since you are only six. But you proved yourself to be a compassionate boy. Amalie started cleaning the living room and you immediately cleaned the dining room, emptied the laundry out of the dryer, then went upstairs, cleaned your room and got dressed. I told you that I was going to try and find a ride for you to the Primary Activity that day and you said "Mom, I don't want to go!"

Well that surprised me, since you love Primary and you love to see your friends.
But then you added "I want to stay home and take care of you!"

I convinced you to go and that I would be okay for the short while you were gone. You continued to surprise me by asking me if I needed an ice pack.

You came home with a bag of treats, saying that you had brought home goodies to share. You are so generous! Amalie and I were happy to share your chocolate chip cookie.

The next morning, I woke up to find you standing right beside my bedside.
"Mom, how are you feeling?" you asked. Then you climbed into bed and started massaging my back. Well, someday your hands and arms will be strong enough to give me a massage, but the thought of you trying to help my back made me feel so loved. Then you told me you wanted to bring me breakfast in bed. I declined, but then you said "But Mom, it's hard for you to walk down the stairs!"
I thought better of it and decided I would like breakfast in bed, so you brought me up some Cheerios and milk.

I am so grateful for your compassion and love. You made me feel so special and made a difficult time much more pleasant for me. You are my big ray of sunshine.

Love,
Mom