Monday, June 28, 2010

Glimpses of a First Date

Our niece, who is almost 11 years old, was sleeping over our house for the night. It's been interesting to see my 5 year old interact with her in a one-on-one situation. When I just sit back and observe, I can see a lot of the things that we have been teaching him, directly and indirectly, at work. One of these things gave me a glimpse into what his first date might look like, or maybe the conversation starter to get the first date. We were sitting down for dinner and Rylan asks Taylor, "Have you been enjoying your summer so far?" The question in and of itself is not funny, but the five year old asking the question in such a grown-up way made me chuckle inside. He's been picking up on these things and is putting them to good use. Wish I could be a fly on the wall when he has to start "that" conversation so far down the road.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Staff Brat

Rylan's Grandad is the pastor at our church. So over the years he has clocked some serious time at church, most of which were non-church days and no one was there, so he really had run of the building. His Grandma lets him ride bikes and scooters in the building and so on. So Rylan is feeling very comfortable about his position at church. In other words, he's becoming a staff brat. Here's the evidence: At a gathering the other night, Rylan's Me-ma was watching him in the back. He was trying desperately to sit on top of a table that kept tilting and threatening to fall. She told him to get down and not to do that. He looked at her and said, "You don't go to church here," with a scowl. He was clearly marking his territory and letting his Me-ma know who's in charge. Me-ma stood her ground and handled the situation, but she had to turn away and laugh when it was all done. I think it's because her dear little children were once called staff brats as well. (Although I don't know why!)