A Group Effort

I was sitting behind the piano in the primary yesterday, just watching. A few of the teachers in primary are also moms to the kids in there. As the good sister at the front was teaching and interacting with the children, I noticed how the mom's eyes would light up when their child was noticed or acknowledged or encouraged or congratulated. I noticed that I did the same thing when it came to my child. There is something fundamentally validating about having your child recognized, isn't there?

I guess that's why it totally warms my heart to tell you about Joel...

Sometime last summer Joel became enamored with money. Not in the usual way, though. Joel wasn't in love with being rich or spending money. He just wanted to collect it. First, it was bills. He would do anything to earn a $1, $5, $10 bill, etc. From there, he had very specific kinds of bills he was looking for. The new "rainbow" bills had to be traded out for the old "green" ones. He wanted a $2 bill and even a special edition $2 yellowstone bill.

For Christmas, Joel got a special gift from his Grandma Malone, a coin collecting book.

Once the word was out that Joel was looking for coins (and trust me, if you came within a few hundred feet of Joel, you would know about it) everyone joined in. We had people from all over working to help Joel find the specific coins to fill the slots in his book. People at Matt's work would send them home, people would stop us in the hallway at church, the babysitter showed up with a few, too. The ladies at the bank were on the lookout for some of the harder ones. As Joel's birthday approached, the search intensified. Matt's parents had ordered a few to send and my Mom was scouring ebay for a few. Aunts and Uncles contributed. Guess what his birthday cake looked like?

You guessed it.

When all the money had come in Joel had all but 10 slots filled in his book! So many people came together to help Joel find his special coins. He's a special boy. It made me so happy to see so many people coming together to help him meet his goals. Thanks, everybody!

The Bad Guy

Last night, I was checking my email after all of the kids had gone to bed. Matt was out returning an overdue movie to Blockbuster ALL THE WAY ACROSS TOWN. Suddenly, I heard footsteps in the hallway. "Mom?" It was Merrody. "What, Merr?" "What do you have to do if your ear grows over the back of your earring?"

At first, I actually questioned whether or not the back had fallen off. That's how grown-over the ear was. I weighed my options...

*Her ear had grown partially over hear earring backs before. I could just push it through as I had in the past.

*I could wait for Matt to get home and let him try some pseudo-medical-done-by-a-dentist procedure.

*I could take her to a doctor in the morning and let him take a needle to her ear and then a knife and then another needle to put a stitch in and then go back again to get the stitches out.

I am the Mom. It was my call to make. I decided that two minutes of me pushing it through was superior to the continued torment of either of the other two scenarios. I pushed. Merrody screamed. It was a long two minutes.

After the earring was removed and the ear was disinfected and wiped clean, Merrody started screaming for her Daddy. It reminded me of a time I hadn't thought of in over a year. A time when we spent the better part of 3 years struggling with Merrody's bowels. Another time when I was the bad guy. I was the one who had to administer the painful suppositories and medications and doctor-recommended home remedies. I was the one who had to hold her down on the toilet and make her go. She screamed for her Daddy then, too.

Sometimes motherhood isn't all it's cracked up to be. Moms are often the bad guys. We're the ones who drive the kids to get their shots and give them the foul-tasting medicines. We're the ones who enforce the no-tv-after-dinner rules and the do-your-chores-before-you-go-outside policies. We do the nagging about homework and teeth brushing and eating their vegetables. We insist that they re-do that sloppy homework and stick with it when they want to quit soccer. We wake them up when they're tired and dress them in church clothes and try, desperately to get them to sit reverently for all of sacrament meeting. We really do a lot of the unpleasant things in our kids lives. We say no the most of anyone.

But, as unpleasant as these things are, I wouldn't trust them to another soul on earth. My child's well-being is too important to be delegated out. And if that means that Merrody will cry for her Dad, so be it. But maybe it doesn't.

By the time Matt got home, Merrody was calmed down and tucked in. And, just before she fell asleep, she called for me.