Joseph’s at that age where he loves to tell stories. Every adventure in his life lights a spark to tell a story. If we visit the aquarium, he’ll tell it to you in a story. If we play hide and seek, he’ll tell you about it in a story. If we hide Easter eggs, go to Grandma Nury’s, visit the bookstore, shop for new clothes…he’ll be happy to describe the outing to you in the form of a story.
His latest storytelling material…a playdate we had last week with the Metz family. Here’s the beginning of some of the stories he’s been telling lately…
Mom, one time we went to visit Ben and Gabe. We chased each other all around the yard…
William and Gabe
If it looks like Ben is about to get hit in the head with that ball, don't worry, Joseph has terrible aim, so hopefully it did not hit him...might have hit Gabe, though. My promise to the Metz's: we'll work on Joseph's aim.
William's giving Ben a push
Once upon a time, I went to visit Miss Virginia. She taught me the Bunny Hop. Here let me show you how to do it…
A long time ago, in a place called Corpus Christi, a little boy named Joseph went to visit his friends. He saw Maddie and Lizzie and Gabe and Ben and Jonathan and Christopher and Nicholas and Miss Virginia. Joseph played outside with the other kids. They played a lot of basketball. Christopher said to Joseph, “Move please,” because he wanted to shoot the basketball and Joseph was in the way…
Lizzie and Joseph
Oh and Mom, I forgot to tell you in the last story, but Jonathan held my hand and helped me get in my car seat.
Once upon a time, Joseph and William got to eat a picnic lunch with Ben and Gabe and Maddie and Lizzie. Miss Virginia made bunny cookies. They were very cute! They had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pretzels…
Hey, Mom, did you see when William knocked Maddie down? He made Maddie very sad.
And the stories go on and on and on….I had no idea one short playdate could be the fuel for so many stories!
Now since we’re telling stories and since we’re talking about that particular playdate, here’s my version…
We had a beautiful playdate with the Metz family last week. Joseph and William had a blast, but I think I got more out of our playdate than they did. Sure, they got to socialize and play all kinds of fun games, but I learned some important mommy lessons just by being with Virginia and her kids.
I am always struck by Virginia’s quiet peace and her unshakeable calm. I have yet to see Virginia get ruffled. Me? I’m ruffled at least every hour. But I noticed that Virginia doesn’t seem to stress about the little things. She’s so orderly, yet so adaptable. So organized, yet so spontaneous. Me? I’m organized and orderly, but I have to mentally prepare to be adaptable or spontaneous, so I think it’s safe to say adaptable or spontaneous don’t really describe me..and it’s not just my personality, it’s because I stress about the little things…the things that in the long run really don’t matter.
I saw a beautiful portrayal of love. Not just from Virginia to her kids, but between each of her kids. The older ones are so patient with the younger ones. Lizzie was happy to teach Ben how to dump the dirt from one truck to another. That patience and love was so evident even in the littlest ones, as shown by Ben when William joined them in the dirt and there was no pushing or shoving or telling William to keep out…instead Lizzie and Ben happily let William play right along with them.
And Christopher! Oh what a beautiful example of love! If children are mimics of their parents, which I truly believe, then just watch Christopher with the little ones and you’ll see exactly what kind of parents John and Virginia are! (I single out Christopher here for two reasons: #1: he was the only one that morning that had a few extra minutes to come and play with us and #2: William snuggled right up to him and would have happily fallen asleep in Christopher’s arms if it had not been time for lunch…Virginia calls Chris her “baby whisperer”…I wholeheartedly agree!)
Oh, my dear Virginia, how do you do it? How have you created such a loving and gentle family? I just know what she’s going to say because she’s said it to me before (and she’ll probably say it to me a million more times)…prayer, prayer, prayer and all the grace that goes along with that devotion. Well, Virginia, if the outcome of prayer and devotion is a family like yours, then that’s advice I will take. Thank you, dear friend, for sharing your mothering wisdom with me…I can’t wait for another playdate (oh and I know Joseph and William will enjoy it, too!)
With Every Intention 