i turned off the radio...

this is jakob eating an artichoke...

You know 4th grade boys... Mom- "How was your day?" Jake- "Good." Mom- "Did you learn anything new?" Jake- "Not really." Mom- "What do you want to do today?" Jake- "I don't really care." Mom- "How about..." Jake- "That's boring." So, last night after our PTA meeting, we were driving to the store (Jakob asked me to make him a fleece blanket with Texas Tech on one side and Texas Longhorns on the other) and, I TURNED OFF THE RADIO. WOW! I don't know if it was the late hour... the fact that we were alone together... the fact that it was an almost full moon (a waxing moon as Jakob explained)... the fact that we were going to get something that he was excited about... whatever it was, Jakob started talking, and talking, and talking... It was SO fun! He asked me what really happens in detention (my kids are scared to death of ISS- in school suspension)... then he wanted to know what was worse than detention... I told him suspension or expulsion... Jake- "Why would not being able to go to school be a bad thing?" :) He told me stories that he thought were hilarious... like the time that he and Todd ordered a large vanilla shake... Todd drank it and thought it was delicious... Jakob drank it and thought it was gross... Turns out, they messed up the order and it was really a CHOCOLATE shake... :) so, so funny (to a 4th grade boy). And, we made memories of our own... we stopped at Whataburger and ordered one med. strawberry malt for Jakob, and a kid-sized vanilla malt for me... Only the people misunderstood me and gave me a KING-SIZED malt... it was HUGE!! And, of course, SO FUNNY... (especially to a 4th grade boy). A wise friend of mine, Deborah Gaar, once told me that if she had her children to raise over the one thing she would do differently was that she would take more ONE ON ONE time with them. She said that because her husband always traveled she would encourage him to take the kids on one on one dates all the time, while she stayed home with the other children. Kids need their moms, she explained, it's essential that you have the fun times to supplement the hours of afterschool do-your-homework times. I'm grateful for the little voice in my head that said... turn off the radio. Last night, it made all the difference.