where's the judgement?

last night owen had ccd.  i was waiting in the parking lot for him to come out.  i saw his teacher lead the class, and as i looked for him, i realized he wasn't there.  i asked her, "where's owen?" and she replied, "owen who?" (nice, huh?!) then i said, "my son, owen." and, she replied, "oh, yes, sorry.  he forgot his treat bag in the classroom, so he went back for it with my two 7th grade helpers.  they should be out in a few minutes." so i patiently waited as other classes kept coming out.  eventually, the kids from our class were all paired with their parents, so our teacher went back in the building to see what was taking them so long.  i stayed outside watching other classes come out to meet their parents.  after a few minutes our teacher was back without owen.  she was surprised he wasn't with me, as he wasn't in the classroom or the hallway.  she decided to try the other route through the halls.  at this point, i am getting a little worried.  where could he be.  the teacher came back out a few minutes later, still without.  at this point, i was about to lose my shit (contrary to popular belief, that doesn't happen too often.) as i begun talking to her, a woman behind me started to address her.  i turned around and to my relief, there was owen! the woman said he was standing at the side of the building near the street crying because he couldn't find his mommy, so she brought him back to find his teacher.  owen told me the boys, aka the two 7th grade "helpers," walked him to the room, but let him come back by himself.  he must have blended in with another class leaving the building.  he remembered that when he went to preschool here, i picked him up at the side of the building, so he went there to find me.  i am thankful that nothing worse happened.  i am grateful owen remembered that i told him if he was lost, he should find a mommy with kids to help him.  but, i am still pissed that this happened at all.

like daddy

last night i was looking at owen's toenails and i told them we needed to trim them.  and i also said, they really look like daddy's (curved on the side to cause a potential ingrown toenail.) owen said, that's okay, i want to be like daddy. i asked, how do you want to be like daddy?  he said, his toes.  i asked, how else? he replied, i want to drive his car too, and your car too.  and, i want to have strong muscles like daddy so i can lift really heavy things.

this is going to be a long year

owen has started ccd (a catholic religious class) about a month ago, and it has made us realize how delayed we are in his catholic teachings.  we first had to tackle what is appropriate to pray for and what is not.  "dear jesus, i wish for legos."  i think he equated jesus to santa and was sharing his nightly wish list.  now he knows he cannot pray for toys, so instead he prays to jesus for a baby sister.  in hindsight, i realize asking for toys wasn't that big of a problem. 

now, we have a new challenge.  last night, owen's ccd teacher gave each child a rosary that glows in the dark. he came home wearing it around his neck.  he was so excited about his new necklace.  i told him it was for praying and it glowed in the dark so he could easier pray when he is in bed at night.  he tested it, and it was not glowing.  so, i explained that we needed to leave it by the light for awhile and then it would glow.  he woke up asking for his glowing necklace.  i again told him it wasn't a necklace, that it was a rosary for praying.  and, he responded, yes, i know, and it is very powerful.  it glows because it is full of magic, and when it glows it is making my wishes come true. i told him it is not magic, but he refuses to agree.

remembering to say it

i often tell owen that i love him.  i often tell him thank you for doing something like cleaning up.  i often tell him i'm proud of him for behaving well in school (getting green or better.)  what i didn't realize until last night, is that i forget tell him that he is a good kid.  he did something nice for the cats last night, and i said, "owen, you are a good kid." owen looked at me and said with complete sincerity, "thank you, mommy."  it made me realize how much he appreciated hearing that, and that i probably need to tell him that more. i spend so much time telling him what to do and what not to do, i sometimes forget to just tell him that he is doing good at his job...being a kid.