When he grows up

When I was young I remember being part of a presentation where we performed a song that said something along the lines of: "When I grow up, when I grow up, I wonder what I'll be".  We proceeded to suggest different careers throughout the song. Watching my kids grow and express their interests in different things reminded me of this little song because I do wonder what they'll grow up to be.

This past Christmas Nas asked for one main thing: a tablet. Knowing just how much such a gift costs, I had to think twice about why my son, age eight, needed something plenty of adults would like to have but maybe can't afford.  But the reality was, this is a kid who loves technology so this gift wouldn't be something that ended up on the bottom of the toy box - God help him if it did! So on Christmas Day our son opened a nice tablet that he would go on to add all kinds of things to including, of course, games, a book, and the Parent-Required math practice apps.

Seeing Nas navigating his tablet's contents with the ease of a technologically aware teen makes me very proud. He talks in tech-speak which typically makes me ask, "What do you know about that?" And all too often baffles me because I have no clue what he is talking about! Jay calls him a tech-geek, especially when she doesn't know what the kid is referring to, and he even surprises Babe with the concepts he understands. Why Babe is surprised I'm not so sure, because he learned it - primarily - from his Dad!

Nas has to put in extra effort when it comes to learning new math concepts, he's a strong reader and writer, and honestly the kid doesn't really dig school all that much. But I look forward to the day when he can take full-on technology classes that allow him to really blossom and immerse himself in a subject he truly loves. When he grows up, when he grows up, I wonder just what my little Nas is going to be!

Meet Jax!

It was last Tuesday afternoon when Babe decided we needed to go to the mall for a couple of things.  When we didn't find basketball shoes for Nas we were about to leave when I decided I wanted a pretzel. As we left the pretzel shop, Babe spotted a pet store across the hallway so of course we should stop in. The store had the exact breed we were hoping to get next spring: Havanese puppies. They had a bunch of different breeds and there were several people looking at the puffy little ones in the front window. I walked away to look at the Havanese, but Babe stayed behind, his eyes fixed on a kennel with a few of the puffy puppies that were also out front.

"Come look at this puppy!" Babe said sounding like he was a young boy all over again.  I went over to see what he was looking at. "What kind of puppy is that?" He asked the store employee.

We found out the puppy was a Bichon-Shih Tzu mix - also known as "Teddy Bears" - and he was awfully cute.

"Would you like to hold him?" the store employee asked.

"Uh no. I'm not going to fall for that," Babe replied.  With that I figured we would be leaving.  Instead we walked around the store for a few more minutes, and I found we were standing in front of that puppy again.  "Okay, can I just hold him for a minute?" Babe caved.

If you saw Babe in the little 'play room' with that adorable little bundle of fur and that teddy bear face, you would've gone to the end of the Earth to make sure he and Babe never parted. Babe and I went back and forth about whether it was a good time to get a puppy, if the breed would be a good match for our family, how awful we knew it was to buy a puppy from a pet store, how much this cute little puppy would cost us. I think it's safe to say I was set - If Babe wanted to get this puppy, we were getting the puppy because I had only seen him smile like THAT on the day our babies were born and on our wedding day.

After calling the pet store to let them know he would indeed be picking up the puppy in the window, Babe had me create a list of things we would need (gotta love Google!). Meanwhile, I had to keep the surprise quiet because the kids had NO idea we were getting a puppy.  I took them to Wendy's to get something for dinner - I was way too anxious to plan and prepare a meal after all. We got home, ate dinner, then watched some "Phineas and Ferb".  Then I heard the garage door open and told the kids to go hide! They obliged probably because we do random weird things like hide from each other in an effort to scare the bejesus out of the other.

Babe walked in and Nas was first to spot our new addition. He promptly took the puppy into his arms and held him close. Jay squealed in excitement about how cute the puppy was. Fortunately I had my video camera ready and got the entire scene recorded. Babe was all smiles, the kids were so happy you would have thought it was Christmas already! I was thrilled to have the cutest puppy on the block to call our very own and that I could witness this moment with my family.

Jax has been with us for just over a week now and he's been a fun little guy, although he is a lot of work. We're first time puppy parents - I grew up with dogs but I had very little responsibility for them so I'm pretty clueless about puppy rearing - so we're all learning but we're doing it together. Jax was named after the character on "Sons of Anarchy" primarily because we like the name: short, simple, and of course Babe loves that it - like his and our kids' - starts with a "J". I feel like a new mom all over again and I couldn't have asked for a better fur son!

And a child shall lead them

There is a scripture, Isaiah 11:6, that I often think of when I see my kids enjoying their lives.  The scripture says, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." (KJV) This scripture came to mind yesterday when I was wishing and hoping and praying that Jay and her 6th grade basketball team might get a win out of last night's game. See, Jay tried track for the first time this past summer, she challenged herself with an advanced ballet class at the new studio she is attending, and just recently she tried basketball.  Just the fact that my daughter is willing to try something new and very different for her speaks volumes to her mother who is leery to step a single toe outside of her comfort zone. "...and a child shall lead them."

For basketball, there weren't any real try-outs: if girls wanted to play they just showed up at practice. After a couple of weeks they were broken up into different groups based on ability and 'teachability' I assume.  Jay came home and told us she was on the A team. She had never played basketball or had any interest in the sport so we were a bit surprised she was on the higher level team. That's when we chalked it up to being, maybe in part, due to 'teachability' because the girl can learn just about anything.

Over the course of the season - a mere four weeks - Babe and I would go to the middle schools in our area to watch our daughter and cheer her and the team on. It was fun, and funny, because Jay has always been a dancer and although she was amazing in track, she has never done a team sport. She had to remember her position, keep her eye on the ball, not foul, stay in bounds, focus on the red square when she was close enough to shoot, actually SHOOT when she was close enough to the basket, and to be aggressive on the court. Jay jammed her finger badly during one game, then jammed it again in practice. This was all new territory for her, but she kept trying and definitely improved in those few games the team played. I was one proud Mom sitting in those stands.

The team lost every game but the last one. I was so happy for those girls because they all worked and tried hard, they just couldn't get a win. So when they did it was like all of the time they spent learning the game paid off. And sure people always say, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, but we all know that the point of basketball is to get that ball into that hoop more times than the other team does - so yeah, winning is the goal. In the end my baby, all 5 feet 6 inches of her, went on that court every game and TRIED. She knew she wasn't some Lisa Leslie - at least not at this point - but she knew that she wanted to do something different and see how it went. Jay stepped outside of her comfort zone and unlike ballet and track, basketball didn't come easily for her, but she put her game face on, laced up her Nikes and got the job done. Win, lose, or draw, I got to see what it is to try something even if maybe you aren't amazing at it and still come out a bright shining star. I'm so proud of Jay. She inspires me to be a better me.  "...and a child shall lead them."