Boys

Boo and his daddy, circa 2003

Boo is 6 today. My beautiful tiny baby boy has grown into a wonderful young man. I realize 6 is pushing it to call him a man, but he is just such a pleasant person that to call him a boy doesn't seem like quite enough. May I say of my son that he is a good person: reasonable, intelligent, interesting, affectionate, obedient, and with a heart that is always looking for heaven. He loves God because "he defeats all the bad guys and makes really good apples". This is my son, and I thank God for the gift of him. Help me to remember that I don't own him, and to gracefully surrender him when then time comes.

That being said, the darling boy is in trouble right now. He had one of his rare fits yesterday. I am telling you this so that it doesn't appear that my children are perfect. Every now and then he gets stubborn. We were in the parking lot at Giant. I had given each of them a treat, because we were waiting for our dinner and they were hungry. Elijah wanted a second one, and I said no, because it would ruin his appetite. He argued with me "appetite doesn't matter". I then calmly informed him that he was grounded for two days. He flipped his lid, and started crying me, threatening that he wouldn' stop crying until I "took it back". I then informed him that he would be "talked to" by his father and would be sent to his room for the night when we got home. He then proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs in the Giant parking lot. I read a book until Lee got there. Punishment duly administered, etc, etc. It doesn't happen too often, but ocassionally my "perfect" child rebels.

Funny story. I get cranky sometimes (no, really?). Lee takes it very personally. And that annoys me, because I feel it should be obvious that I'm not mad at him - just at the entire world. This morning was a perfect example. We placed an order last night for a couple of books from Amazon (Linux certification book + DVD for Lee and Tales of Beedle the Bard, which I have waited very, very patiently for). Only thing is, our old address was still on the account and we didn't realize it. The website said we couldn't change the address anymore. Lee asked me if I would call them while he was at work. I wasn't thrilled about it, but was angry (at the world not Lee) about the situation. Lee caught the vibes coming off of me. "Why are you mad at me?" he asked. I tried vainly to explain that it was not him, but it didn't work.

Five minutes later, Lee's friend arrived to pick him up for work (car going into the shop on Tuesday, thank you God for good timing). His friend greeted me, and I waved back at him.

"Are you mad at me?" Lee's moderately innocent friend asked me.

Oh, boy.

Okay, so I guess it really is me. I better work on not projecting those feelings - poor Lee.

UPDATE: Incidentally, Amazon's customer service is neat - you push a button and they call you immediately. You don't have to pay for the call, and they know who they're talking to right away, because they called you. And the very polite gentleman with the very thick accent fixed my problem immediately. Good job, Amazon.