Its Mismass

It was a Saturday and James and I made our way to the local Walmart to pick up a few things. The moment we got in the door we were confronted with a Christmas tree and the newly placed Christmas decorations. James turned to me and said, "Dad, check it out, Missmass." And from there James began his Christmas list. We first ran into a display with Toy Story 3. He said, "Dad, mobie, Toy Story my Missmass present." And then behind that we saw the toys for the movie. He wanted Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie. All of these he said "my Missmass present". I pulled him away from that and he discovered the trunks in the aisle and had to check them out as well. He told me that would he needed a trunk to put his new presents in. Before we made it to the electronics section he had a couple hundred dollars worth of requests. In the electronics area he picked out a few more movies a Wii and a 52 inch "flat screen for my room". With each new find came the the statement, "My Missmass present". And so thanks to our local store, MISSMASS has began for James.It is easy for us to kind of live life like James shops. We begin to think that life is all about getting everything we want. The truth is that Christmas was all about God giving us what we needed most, a Savior.

That's My Car

The other night James and I were on our way to see "Hotels for Dogs". As we stopped at a light this white mustang convertible with the top down pulled up beside us. James had been pretty occupied with his drawing but he popped his head up and declared, "THAT'S MY CAR". What do you mean James. "THAT'S MY CAR". I asked him if he meant the car beside us. He insisted again, "THAT'S MY CAR". "DIAL 911 THEY GOT MY CAR". This little guy has great taste in cars. In his mind "his car" would not be the boring minivan, sedan or vanilla Taurus his Mom and Dad drive. His car would be a cool Mustang convertible. Well, to him the world is his and all of his dreams can be as true as ever.

Limousine

James has long been fascinated with limousines. I think he has seen them on television and things they are pretty cool. When we see them in traffic they always get his attention and start his imagination thinking about riding in one. When DJ and Sarah Kelley got married, one of the decorations at the reception was a match box car limousine. DJ knowing about James' fascination with them gave him the toy to take home. It is one he loves to play with.

The other day he told me that he was going to go on a date in a limousine. While we do our best to downplay any kind of dating ideas, they are a part of life and have not been ignored by our little guy. When I asked who he was going on a date with he answered "my girlfriends". Girlfriends, I responded. How many girlfriends do you have? He responded quite confidently, "twinny (twenty)". So that's why you need a limousine. I guess as long as he has twenty girlfriends that sounds more like a group of friends than a date. Friends are good. The limousine? Who knows, maybe someday.

Our Daily Game of Charades - Talking

The key word in this video is GRADUATION. It is a typical thing for us to do a kind of charades as we talk with James. We made this video tonight and when I asked James about school he was glad to report that he was doing well - grade 17 (not sure what that is about other than he wants to be 17 years old very bad). He also is glad to say that he has an A+. At least he shoots for the top. He also is all about something else that I did not pick up on right away. If you watch carefully, he puts on the graduation cap and then buttons the graduation robe. It took me a while, but I did finally get it. (I don't always get it,) When James is tired and less than enthusiastic about getting up in the morning and getting ready for school reminding him if the goal - GRADUATION - is a great motivator. He has watched his two older sisters graduate from high school and Tiffany from college. He knows all about the excitement of that moment and the GRADUATION PARTY that follows. He is all about celebrations and especially parties.

This is a great reminder to us all to just keep our eye on the goal. There will come a graduation day and a party if we keep going. James gets this. We can all benefit from simple reminders like this. Whatever our challenge, keeping the vision and goal in mind can help us overcome the daily struggles with greater energy. Thanks James. You often remind me of the important things.

"Na hase me" "Na hale it"

The other day, I had the pepperocini peppers out and James was showing interest in this new food group. I asked him if he wanted one and he said “me try”. I warned him that they are little bit hot but he still wanted to try one. Knowing that he may not make it through a mouthful of peppers, I parked him beside the sink just in case. He took a big bit and all was well for a second or two and then he grabbed his mouth and said. Oh hot, hot. He discovered that he did not like these peppers. The next day I asked, kind of jokingly, if he wanted a pepper and he said with a bit of disgust, “I hale it.” Which interpreted is, “I hate it”. He picked up this “hate” word from school. As much as we try to discouraged its use and encourage a more gracious alternative, like “I don’t like it”, he continues to use the “hate” word. It has kind of taken on its own meaning for James.

The other night the family went out to eat. It was one of those end of the week, let’s get re-connected as a family and share the week’s stories moment. Needless to say, the stories lasted a lot longer than the meal. After a while James grew impatient and said, “Let’s go.” We told him not just yet. To this he replied, “Na hase me.” No James we don’t hate you but you are going to need to wait for us all to be ready to go. Pretty much any time James does not get his way, he has pulled out the phrase, “Na hase me.” It has become a family joke. James asks his siblings for chicken and they tell him, it is not time to eat to which he replies – “Na hase me.” James go clean up your room and if he does not want to do that he says, “Na hase me.” So pretty much if anyone does not give him what he wants, when he wants, he feels this emotion he describes as “Na hase me.” No James, we love you but you can’t always have what you like. James we love you, but when you do wrong things, you have to have a time out and sit in the thinking chair.” “Na hase me” and “Na hale it” have become part of James’ limited vocabulary. Somehow, we all have found use for this new “James speak” even while we still hope to make him a more gracious boy.

“Breef Mom”…

The other day Cindy was having one of those overloaded Mom stress moments. While James did not know what was going on, he could see that Mom was having a tough time. He walked into our bedroom, looked his Mom in the eye and then with hand motions said, “Mom, breef (breath) in, breef out.” At this point Cindy and I both erupted into laughter and amazingly enough, the stress was gone. James may not understand all the details, but he does get what matters. Thanks, James for keeping us breathing.

Wear "flops" and buy "melelelems".

James has enjoyed his week at home during spring break. His curiosity has been at its peak. Escaping regularly to different parts of the house where no one sees him, he has plundered with abandon. His mother has had the flu, and even in her weakened state, she is running around cleaning up after our own little guy. His path of discovery has been like having both Lewis and Clark in the same body. His latest adventure was to go downstairs to the basement and pull out big sister's guitar and other electronic music gear. From there he ventured into the Christmas decor storage area and decided to reintroduce some holiday cheer into the decor. Cindy all the while trying to contain him in his room so that she can go clean up after him.

This afternoon is such a beautiful day, we decided to just go somewhere. James wanted to wear his "flops" his word for flip flops (when I was a kid we called them something that my kids won't let me say anymore). He wants to go buy "melelelems" a pronunciation of one of America's favorite candies M&M's that involves more tongue twirling action than anyone ever thought of. You have to see it to fully appreciate it.

Never a dull moment. James is busy and for the most part a happy boy from dawn to late at night. His latest request is to be able to paint. He is quite the artist. My favorite picture is his "robot". Maybe some art lessons would be a good way to direct his creativity and energy.

I Go to my Church

It is Monday night and James came into the living room and said, "I go to my church". He then began to recite the names of his teachers and friends in his Special Friends Class at church. At first I was a bit confused and then it dawned on me. His sister Coco is recovering from having wisdom teeth extracted. Because of this Cindy, James and Coco did not go to church yesterday. This has town James off. He loves his teachers and friends at church. Special thanks to all of James teachers.

"Silly Me, My Bad"

Sitting in the living room I hear the noise of tearing paper in the kitchen. Then comes Cindy's voice, "James, you can't open other people's mail." To this James gives up his defense statement that is suppose to cover a multitude of sins and turn her disfavor around. "Silly Me, My Bad." Now there is no doubt that forgiveness will flow. But facts are facts, when you open and loose someone else's mail that is not good.

Who can blame James. He is all about doing everything everyone else around him does. That includes getting mail.