Nevin, at supper, “So where is Charis going to go to school?”
Parents, silence.
Evangeline, “She’ll go to preschool.”
Dad, “What’s the official age for real pre-school.”
Mom, “Three. Remember, Nevin went when Calvin was in K.”
Evangeline, “Yeah, and I went the year after and had the same teacher.”
Nevin, “Well, I meant when she gets to K.”
Calvin, “What’s the age of that grade before K?”
Mom, “You mean pre-K.”
Calvin, “Yes. I didn’t go to pre-K because I was too tall.”
Mom, “No. You didn’t go to pre-K because we moved in the middle of the school year and had never heard of pre-K before we moved to Oklahoma.”
Calvin, “Well, you told me it was because I was too tall.”
Mom, “No. You just extrapolated that from something else I said.”
Evangeline, “How old was I when we moved there?”
Mom, “Eighteen months old.”
Nevin, “That was 5 years ago.”
Mom, “No, it was 6 years ago.”
Dad, “Wow, Calvin is 10 years old.”
Mom, “It seems like yesterday.”
Mom breaks into song, “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it seems as though there here to stay.”
Dad, “Ha, ha…”
Mom, “That’s really a depressing song.” (to the tune of said song)
Yes. I know that was a long and drawn out recreation of our supper conversation. But it is indicative of a couple of things to me, so bear with me.
First, on the positive side, after nearly 15 years of marriage and with our oldest being 10, we are creating a family history. We’re really in the thick of life, and I am so glad to have the family that I have. It is fun to have a real conversation with our kids now while remembering a time when we sat around the table hearing a 5-, a 4-, and a 3-year-old telling meaningless knock-knock jokes. And, we’ve also added one to our number since those days. God has blessed us with so much on so many levels.
Second, on the less positive side, we are facing some stresses in life, and we need your prayers. It’s not the earthshattering kinds of things like terminal illness or divorce, but just the typical stresses of life. However, when your the one having the stresses, it can feel very heavy and like they are here to stay.
It is nice to be able to have a semi-adult conversation with your child. I will be praying for you and your family.
April,
Thanks for your prayers.
And, I guess our conversation isn’t really that real yet, but at least it seems to follow some sort of semi-logical pattern.
Looking forward to those real conversations. Let us know if we can help you guys out in any way.
Thanks for the encouragement and prayers,
I loved this post for several reasons:
First, I can imagine all of you at the table as this transpires. Second, I remember with nostalgia the endless knock-knock jokes at your dinner table a few years ago. Finally, I appreciate so much the way you frame your current stresses in the context of looking back and acknowledging God’s grace and goodness in your life, which gives you the certain hope that his present and future grace are yours as well — a great reminder!