A touch of DASH!

I am in a writing mood and when I am in that mood, I write! I need to take a moment to recognize the "little" one in my house. I use little loosely because in a matter of moments, he will be taller than me. Keep in mind that the boy wears the same shoe size as he is old. We are looking forward to many years of "looking up" to our boy in many ways.

He just finished an amazing season of gridkid football. Amazing just doesn't even really do it justice. It is in this particular venue that I take a moment to explain what it is like to watch Jaxon play sports. I have to do it this way because his father will share his opinion of his son's greatness to anyone and everyone. Which is not bad, just awkward sometimes. I jokingly tell him that we have to find a cure for the disease that he has developed before Jaxon gets to high school sports or no one will talk to us. Jaxon's father is his biggest fan.

I was telling a friend the other day that being Jaxon's mother is much like being the mother of Dash on "The Incredibles". You remember at the end of the movie when the Incredible family is cheering Dash on at the track meet and then they motion for him to back off a little and then they cheer again. Well I feel like we have to do that much of the time with Jaxon. If we audibly praise all of his sports triumphs, someone else gets offended. But I want our boy to know how truly amazing he really is. He can do moves on the football field and basketball court that no one has taught him. It is like he was born knowing what he was supposed to do and he makes it look so effortless while he is doing it.

While contemplating his skills, I also have to thank the Lord for allowing me to be his mom. Without the unique opportunity of that title, Jaxon would have been living somewhere else and I know with assurity that this is exactly where he is suppose to be. Tom and I are suppose to find the nice balance that will let us shout to the world Jaxon's abilities while still keeping him humble and centered. Meanwhile we will cheer and motion while he discovers his greatness!

Helicopter Moments

So I had one of those moments where I discovered my boundaries as a mother. These are never pleasant moments. It is much like moving at a fast speed toward a brick wall only to discover moments before you hit the wall, that your brakes do not work. OUCH! Without giving many details, I really mess up the situation that I should not have been involved with in the first place. Fortunately, another mother who I really think had compassion on me because she had probably been in that same situation with her own children, took pity on me and repaired the damage I had done.

This got me to wondering why it was that I had behaved in such a way that I actually had a helicopter moment. For those of you who are new to this concept, this is when as a mother you actually attempt to alter those events in your children's lives that you deem as "fixable". Those moments in time when you hover about your child, audibly shouting at those who pass by, "Step
away from the child!" Or something like that. I unfortunately have these moments frequently. I think that for some reason I have to make life better, smoother, more comfortable, desirable, easy, etc for my offspring. Only usually I make it worse.

And that was my epiphany this week. I can attempt to move mountains to make the pathway smoother for my children only to find out that they could have easily taken a different path that would have been less complicated for them and less painful for me. I don't have to make it all better. I just have to be their mother. The job requirement does not mean that any mountains have to be moved or any situations fixed necessarily, I just have to love them. And since I am sure that in my efforts to love them, occassionally I will have to smooth the edges once in a while.

Now STEP AWAY FROM THE CHILD:)