Sweet Little Things

I love those "ah-ha" moments when something clicks with my kids, when you can almost see the lightbulb turn on in their heads. And I love it when the good in them outshines the whining, bickering, and temper flareups that are part of being self-centered little people. Here are a few of those sweet moments from the last week.

Snapper (ah-ha!): We've been working on adding 9's this week. She has a quick memory, and often memorizes math facts, fooling me into believing she understands them. She has gotten perfect scores on her math papers this week. There's that sharp little memory, without a hint of true understanding. But then this morning, the light clicked on and she said, "OH! I GET it! The 9 steals one from the other number and becomes a 10. It is easy-shmeezy to add anything to ten! So on 9+8, 9 steals one and makes the 8 a 7. Then it's 10+7 which is 17! I GET it!"

Pepper (ah-ha!): He was singing "Jesus Loves Me" to his baby doll this morning. All of a sudden, his face brightens up and he looks at me with enormous brown eyes (melt Mommy's heart) and literally shouts, "Mommy! Jesus love 'Pepper'!"

Snapper (good triumphs): When she learned that Matt and I were getting tested to see if we can be bone marrow donors for Beverly, Whitney said, "I want to take the test, too. If my bones match Beverly's bones, she can have my bones. I think it would hurt to not have no bones no more, but that's okay, she can still have mine."

Pepper (good triumphs): I had to spank Snapper the other day for throwing the cat off the couch. She knows (from past experience and very clear boundaries being set) that if she causes pain to a helpless animal, she will have to feel some pain in order to help her empathize with that animal. So Snapper got her spank and was crying on the couch. Pepper took his precious Mimi (blankie) to Snapper, stroked her hair and said, "Don't cry,'Snapper'. I sorry. I forgive you. You can have my Mimi."

In the aftermath of our crazy day last week, I was thankful for a few shining moments which reminded me of how special is it to be a the mommy of these two kids.