Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Spending time with Donovan

Recently, Donovan was moaning about how his lips were chapped because he wasn't drinking enough water at school. I pointed out that this could probably be remedied if he, you know, remembered his water bottle. He claimed it would still be too hard. We talked about ways he could remember (take 5 swallows before you switch subjects, take 5 swallows on your way out to and back from recess, etc.).

Then he said, "How about if I remember to drink my whole water bottle two times at school for like a month, I get two hours of just Mom/Dono time?" I asked if that was really what he wanted. He said that he really did.

A few things ran through my head:
1. A whole month was a long time to work on something that should just be natural -it's DRINKING WATER.
2. My kids get time with me a fair amount, it's not like this is the Shangri-La of rewards.
3. We were having an hour of just Mom/Dono time AT THAT VERY MOMENT.

What a weirdo. But he's MY weirdo. We recently had the elementary school's MotherBoy night. Ok so they call it "Mother Son Night" but in a nod to my third cousin once-removed work on "Arrested Development," I always call it MotherBoy. As usual, I came away thinking it was pretty low-key and unremarkable as far as events go, and Donovan came away skipping and exulting in how it was the best night ever. Just goes to show it doesn't matter WHAT you do, but that you are together.

This is our photobooth picture. I was trying to go for a version of American Gothic at the top. Donovan didn't get my vision until we got home and I showed him the actual artwork and then he thought it would have been hilarious. Oh well, maybe next time.

Yesterday at Costco, with the lad, while the girls were in ballet, we strolled the aisles and ate as many garlic-butter-bread samples as we could. That's the upside to going right before the samples close down - they don't care how many you eat. Donovan pushes the cart and insists on loading the cart. As we left, I proposed that he be my legs. He is always game for my ideas (hence how he sampled both sardines and picked beets one time - the sardines weren't bad, according to him, but the beets tasted like mud) so imagine him giving me a piggy back ride while I pushed the cart. It was bizarre and we didn't make it more than 15 feet before we were both giggling too hard to go on. I think the guy checking receipts at the exit was relieved to see us resume normal walking because I don't think he knew what to do with us.

I came into the family room one day to see the above scene laid out - stuffed animals, warming themselves by the fire, with nobody else around. I shake my head at how weird it is but also take a picture so years from now when stuffed animals are collecting dust on closet shelves, I will remember these days.

At church, once a week they spotlight a kid in primary (Sunday school for 3-11 year olds, and it's divided into junior and senior primary). Last year, when I was filling out the form for Gemma, we got to the part, "How tall are you?" Having sat in primary and listened to them reveal, "This child is 43 inches tall," as the kids tried to guess who it was, it occurred to me that saying inches doesn't mean anything to these kids. This was particularly evident one week when it was revealed the child was 67 inches tall. Which...no. I'm looking around wondering if they're spotlighting a teacher. I mean, this was junior primary, so the oldest kid was 7. Turns out the 6 was a 4. But you get my point, right? So I asked Gemma to think of what animal she was as tall as, so we ended up writing, "As tall as a lion." That might also be incorrect, but at least it was a visual.

It's like saying the shuttle has 100,000 horsepower. I have no idea what that means. I guess that's good. Pretty sure horses aren't going to make it very far in space.

I let Donovan fill out his own form because he's in senior primary and fully capable. I glanced over his sheet before we turned it in and saw that he had finished the phrase, "If I could travel anywhere, I would travel..." with "in time." I looked at him with pride and nodded. Good job, buddy. Way to think outside the box.

Later, the woman who read his spotlight to the primary, approached me to share what happened. She said that answer kind of took her off guard (naturally) so she asked him what time he'd like to visit, thinking it would be some cool event or place. Donovan simply said, "I'd like to know where I'm going to go on my mission."

I love this kid. I love that he wants to spend (more) time with me. I love that he wants to bring happiness to others. Hopefully he'll remember to drink his water through all of this.







3 comments:

Wanda said...

He's AWESOME!

laura said...

What a cool little weirdo (and I mean that in the most magnificent way possible)!

Becca said...

I always thought little boys were stinky and annoying, but Donovan is redefining what boys are all about!