Out of the Mouth of Babes

I dont know in what moment in time people go from being innocent and trusting to cryptic and skeptical. I mean -- was there a line on the playground that we one day crossed over?

Do we one night go to bed thinking our parents are the greatest thing next to peanut butter and jelly, to waking up the next thinking they are a kink in our cool?

I dont know - but when I look at my teen-aged daughters, then to my unobjectionable sons, I find myself longing for them to stay young forever!

Then they do something like finger paint with the above mentioned peanut butter on the kitchen walls and all yearnings go out the window!

No really, from a mom with an array of children, I've experienced a lot of joys throughout the past 17 years, even still from the difficult teen-aged ones - believe it or not.

Kaitlynn: who is fast approaching graduation, who has been driving for over a year now, who has her own job and making her own life and circle of friends will still come to me for advice and always kisses me before she walks out the door.

Halie: who just joined the teenager ranking not too long ago, who spends more time on her cell phone texting then conversing with her 'rents and who readies herself for high school next year, just curled up on my lap tonight as we watched "The Bachelor".

Kennidy: though not quite a teenager yet and is faithfully Daddy's Little Girl, still calls me "momma", and every now and again will come to me to brush or braid her hair and still asks to be tucked into bed at night.

Joshua and Nathan: two peas in a pod, yet night and day in personalties. The boys are inseparable. During the day, when Joshua is at school Nathan is a different person, but let Josh walk in the door and Nathan wakes up as a different boy - like his other half is home. Of course they fight like cats and dogs too, but I wouldnt have it any other way (well maybe I would ;-)). I love to watch the two of them play. Joshua waits for me every night to curl up in bed with him until he falls asleep, Nathan on the other hand waits for me to fall asleep so he can get up and see what he can get into - like pouring maple syrup on my beige bedroom carpet - did that sound like the voice of experience?

Throughout the years all the kids at one point or another has said something to remind me how unsullied children are. Once, when Kaitlynn was just shy of 7 years old she was writing on the backs of her school pictures getting them ready to mail to her grammas and grampas and cousins and aunts. Naturally she wanted to write her age on the picture - and she wouldnt dare put 6 on there, oh no! she was far older than 6 - she was 6 and 3/4's. So when she informed me that was what she was going to autograph, I asked her quite simply if she knew how to write that. To which she replied by drawing a 6000 on the back of the picture. Oh but it wasnt just a number - it was a 6 and three large circles behind it - three "quarters" to be exact.

How could I possibly correct her?

And I know there have been many more "out of the mouth of babe" stories over the years, sadly a lot of which I have long forgotten. That said, most recently Josh said something I wanted to share and journal so I dont lose that to Senility and Father Time too. It's not nearly as priceless as the "16-eva" story, but definitely noteworthy nonetheless.

Kaitlynn, Halie and Josh made a trip to the store to pick up a few groceries. As Halie was putting a case of water in the cart, Joshua was practicing his new-found reading skills and declared, "Spring Water? Halie, shouldnt we be buying Winter Water!"

Ahhh... maybe that's what we've been doing wrong all season!