When I tried to wake up Little Man to get ready for school at 7 am one Monday morning, the following conversation transpired:
Little Man – “I’m just going to sleep for the rest of my life.”
Mom – “You’re a school boy now. You’ve got to get up and get ready for school.”
Little Man – “Can’t you just tell them that I need a day off?”
Needless to say, Mom’s next line wasn’t a string of uttered words. No, not at all. It was more like a sequence of uncontrollable laughter. In my mind, all I could think of was, “well said, my son.” From the mouth of babes, right? I almost hate to admit it, but Little Man had just perfectly articulated my sentiments many a morning that I less than enthusiastically forced myself to roll out of bed, get husband and children off to work and school, and then make my dash to work. The main take-away from this narrative is not so much what my 8-year old said (albeit it was a pretty grown-up response), but that I was able to recite (verbatim) the conversation we shared. Want to know how? Get ready for it… it was because I wrote down the words we said right after I collected myself from the laughter that resulted when my son requested the day off.
Now, here’s the call to action: I want you to do something that I failed to carry out when Toodlez and Junior were up and coming but am determined to put forth my best effort in with Little Man. I want you to be ready to write down those priceless words your child verbalizes that you couldn’t possibly prepare yourself for. You know what I’m talking about; they’re those precious, heartfelt, hilarious, genius, wise-beyond-the-years, humbling, and sometimes embarrassing statements or questions that catch you off guard. It’s during these moments that all you can do is laugh, cry, and sometimes stare in amazement or shock, wondering how in the world your child knew to utter those very words. And just think of how much you and your little grown-up are going to enjoy reminiscing over those written records in another 10 years!
So, it’s time to whip out that journal, notebook or notepad, loose-leaf stack of paper, or something where you can hand record your child’s noteworthy words right after they roll off the tongue. The sooner the better; because if you’re anything like me in this respect, then you know that the old memory may or may not recall the finer details of conversations when requested on demand. As a matter of fact, just five short hours later, when trying to remember Little Man’s exact words, I drew a blank. Thankfully, I was able to refer to the words I wrote down in my composition notebook. Parents, you never know when or where your child’s gift of gab is going to strike, so you must be ready with pen and paper at all times. Please don’t leave the details of those most memorable moments up to a fleeting memory. If you do, I guarantee you’ll experience regret later on.
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