Categories: uncategorized
Date: 18 May 2004 22:07:20
It's his birthday today. Would you believe he's now 130 cm tall? I can hardly believe it's three whole years almost to the day since first I saw and fell in love with my little man. His first meeting with his new brother was on his fourth birthday - I remember the delight of watching him share the train set I'd bought him with Tiddles and trust him to play with it; the moment when he came running up to me and the foster mum calling "Mummy" and both of us answered "Yes?" ... but it was me he wanted; the coincidence of me having bought him exactly the present he'd longed for. And three years on, here he is. Well and truly part of our family and growing fast.
I'm proud of him today. He's tended to be very materialistic and, as most six year olds, considerably egocentric. This year, after a little chat together the other day, he's been delightful. He read each card and enjoyed the pictures and messages from special people. He took his time over each present rather than racing on to the next. He said "Thank you" and gave hugs and kisses to the people who gave each gift. And his face when he saw his scooter, wrapped in rainbow paper, was a real treat. Within minutes we were all out there in the street, taking it in turns to whizz down the hill on it... apart from Dad who's finally learned his lesson when he fell off Smudgelet's bike at Christmas!!! Gosh, the memories of my little blue scooter. It was great fun. As was "helping" him set up his new HotWheels track and sending the little cars racing at high speed down the ramp. Me? Childish? Never! ;-)
One of the many good things about being a lady of leisure is that I can actually go to Bible Study. Our group is excellent, as I mentioned before, and I am learning and sharing a lot. I was the source of quite a strong argument with one member, to my surprise, on the subject of trust and whether churches should be open. Both views were understandable: he felt that churches cannot be open because people will, by nature, steal what's there. I felt that it's essential to trust people and not to judge and to make our churches more accessible. We had to agree to disagree eventually. It's certainly made me think more about what I am prepared to sacrifice and give - time, possessions, money, pride?
It also prompted me to follow through a trust issue which I mentioned about Tiddles. I used this situation as an illustration in the Bible Study - how he could only learn to be trusted by being trusted, that branding him a thief or a liar would be a self-fulfilling prophesy. So I was delighted to be able to seize the day and call in at Tesco to arrange for them to lift his ban on going in there. He and I are going on Sunday to meet the manager and take them a photo so they know who he is, but the manager is going to say how he's heard how much progress Tiddles has made in overcoming his need to take things, and thus is willing to allow him back into the shop and trust him not to let him down. I'm delighted.
The other good thing about being a lady of leisure was that I was able to go on impulse to the mainland yesterday, sitting at ease on the boat in the sunshine and soaking in the pure delight of the day. I met Emma in Southampton for coffee, we went on to Winchester for lunch, and then back to Southampton for coffee. What a perfect itinerary! Then I picked up Tiddles from his last counselling session (at least for the time being), dropped Smudgelet at Beavers, and went down to the beach, ostensibly to sit there and do my Bible Study preparation but as it turned out, Tiddles and I simultaneously had the brilliant idea of buying a Chinese Takeaway and eating it on the beach together. I'm sure God smiled on us sharing our lemon chicken and rice together and didn't mind too much that I wasn't doing my homework. And I got away with it, too, as the leader had accidentally prepared the wrong session so he was working off the cuff too!
Life is so fulfilling, right now. Thank you God for the gift of my two boys and the sheer joy they bring me.