Monday- Great
Tuesday - A little chatty
Wednesday - Great
Thursday - A little chatty
Friday - A little chatty
If there was one thing in school that I always got in trouble for it was being "a little chatty". No matter how quiet I thought I was being while sharing the latest gossip with my neighbor, I always ended up with an "S" on my report card and the comment "talks to much in class".
Dominic has a math mind, and when he sets his sight on his learning, he can pick things up pretty quickly, but focus has never been his strong suit. His mind wanders, he is friendly, loving, helpful, and a little chatty. I would dare to say a LOT chatty. In fact his favorite past time is being chatty. But if I allow myself to engage in some of these chatty moments, that is when I get to know him the best.
Another fun fact about my middle child is that he is obsessed with robbers. He goes to bed every night asking if we locked the door, and will frequently ask "what time do the robbers usually come?". We haven't engaged too heavily in this conversation for fear that it will only feed his worries, but we usually give him a emphatic yes, the doors are locked, followed by a huge hug to let him know that he is safe. The other night on a fancy McDonalds date, in the midst of a chatty spell in which conversation consisted solely of freeing his mind from a traffic jam of words, he blurt out this little gem...
"If a robber comes to your house and asks where the toys are, you have to lie...to save the toys. But if he comes and asks for a snack...that's okay."
There are two points to make with this comment. 1) That his worry about robbers isn't founded on the fact that they are going to hurt his body in any way, but that they are more interested in stealing his toys and hurting his soul. I can confidently say that what little worry I harbored every night reassuring him against robbers, has now faded to a mild "your toys are safe, now go to sleep". I will admit however that I am grateful to learn this consistent worry wasn't one that was debilitating and nightmare inducing. 2) This comment was in a round about way, exploring the idea of when it would be okay to lie. Out of all of my kids Dominic is the most engaged in right and wrong. He does things based on the fact of whether or not it is what God says to do. Lying is wrong...but what if it is for the greater good? What if you are just deterring the bad guy from harming something you love and pointing him in the direction of snacks instead?
I love these moment with my kids. The moments that you get a glimpse of what is going on in their heads and hearts. There are so many hours in the day in which Dominic shares his chatty soul with others, so when he shares it with me, I feel lucky. And when he blurts things out that seemingly have no meaning, but in reality hold all the meaning, I can't help but encourage the chatty side of him knowing that it is this side that matters most.