Eavesdropping on two toddlers is pretty easy. It’s not as if they’ve got nonchalance down to an art; they’re just babes after all. So by timing things just right, I’ve discovered that listening to a five minute conversation between brothers can deliver more amusement to a busy mother than just about any other activity I can squeeze into my day.
Hearing what children discuss when they think no one is listening is worth all the effort it takes for a mom to strain her ears and stand at attention for 10 minutes outside a closed bathroom door. Crouching in the hall-calves cramping, legs numb-while the oldest gives directions to his brother in his most stern, parental voice is all the invitation a parent needs to sit listening to their playtime antics.
Yes, children will act and re-enact 101 different scenarios during their daily amusements-most of which they have seen or heard their parents or friends doing first. Our boys were playing one afternoon at a friend’s house while his “Gram” was there supervising. She had given the boys instructions on what they should and should not be doing with her important business papers, and as she left the room and rounded the corner, she swears she heard my first born say, “Man, she’s bossy!”
Even so, the bigger boy is usually the best at following the rules, even when mom’s out of the picture. I often overhear him telling Brisco that they “can’t go to the alley” because mom said they “have to stay on the porch”. Most of the time Brisco will follow his lead.
I guess I tell them often enough to stop and think before they act. “Just use your brain,” I believe are my words. I suppose I have given little thought to the fact that at this age, a brain is unseen and incomprehensible, and biology class is still more than 10 years away. But at least I know they are listening. Just today Cooper told me, “Mom, I really used my brain! I thought, ‘what did Mommy tell me to do…’ and then I just did it!”
Over the weekend, that same little boy told his aunt Rhonda that maybe someday his Dad will be able to play football like the boys on TV, “when he gets a little bigger”. I guess he has received that response a time or two as well.
Good parents want their kids to listen and do and create good habits from the lessons we teach them every day. We can only hope that they take hold of the positive examples we set and sail right past our faults. And there’s nothing more eye opening to the kind of job we’re doing than observing our children’s behavior when they think that no one is watching.
Like the afternoon our boys spent playing in the backyard with a little boy from church. It seems they found a frog in the dog bowl, and somewhere along the way, they decided to name him Scout.
On that particular day, Scout was destined to be an explorer along with his coarse and curious new friends. He explored the inside of plastic cups. He explored the back of the dump truck. He explored the inside of the dog food bucket and the John Deere tractor and an empty cardboard box. Poor ole Scout had explored so many places that I had to go out and make sure he was exploring of his own free will and not by force…or worse, post-mortem.
I explained to the boys that even frogs were part of God’s creation, and reminded them to be nice to their new friend while they were teaching him to explore. They all let out an “OK, Mom!” and returned to their busy play.
Keeping an ear to the window, I was reassured to find that although their handling of poor ole Scout was anything but gentle, their spirits could not have been kinder. And when they finally decided to let him go free (shooting him through a hole three-feet high on the chain-link fence), I couldn’t help but snicker at how closely our boys have been paying attention. “Bye-bye, Scout! Be careful! Have fun! We love you!”
I was taken aback for a moment at how this afternoon outside, playing with a frog, so closely resembled the raising of children. They snoop and explore and investigate. Sometimes on their own; sometimes with a little nudge from their parents. And someday, they’ll jump right out of the safe confines of mom and dad’s backyard, with both of us waving and shouting behind, “Be careful! Have Fun! We love you!” Job well done.
Until that time, I know we’ll hear many more conversations take place between these brothers, and not all will end with such peace and pride for their parents. But for now they are doing their best. So until that next secret adventure takes place behind closed doors, I’ll be watching and waiting for my five minutes of comedy delivered straight from the mouths of my babes.
And that’s All in a day’s work!
No comments:
Post a Comment