Lesson Learned by Mom

SNOW DAY!!!!!
We woke up this morning to TONS os Snow...and the schools called it a SNOW DAY. So we decided to make the best of it.
With Scout on my back, I took this awesome self portrait of us. If anyone knows of any "Hottest Mom of the Year" contests, will you please let me know?

Bug was the Biggest snow boy. He played the hardest and had a blast. He only had to go inside once for an immediate changes of gloves.


Mooch. Please note: Booger coming down his face. And his eyes. Oh, wait. You can't see his eyes. I was pretty sure he couldn't see much of what was going on around him for most of the time. It was hilarious.

Lesson Learned:
William has been obsessed with a toy he got for Chrsitmas. It is called Martian Matter. This toy is a "refil toy." Whenever the "Lunar Lava" runs out, you have to run to the closet Target or Toy'R'Us and buy more of the precious commodity.
When Grandpa Geoff came to town, he realized that William was "in charge" of all of the Martian Matter, becasue, well, it was his. He was doing an awesome job of sharing, but Grandpa Geoff decided to pick up some extra Lunar Lava just for Jake.
Later at dinner, William, completely out of the blue, says, "that was nice of you to buy Jake Lunar Lava, Grandpa."
The seed had been planted. William wanted to follow Grandpa's example.
The next day, all of William's coins were counted over and over again. We soon realized that he did not have enough money to buy Jakey the whole Martian Matter playset, but he could buy Jake a refil.
We counted our coins again...and again.
He lovingly placed $5 worth of coins into a ziploc baggie and we headed down to Target.
O.K. This is not just like $5 that he has earned in the last two weeks. Rather, it has taken him over two years to earn each of these coins. We are not big "allownace" people and the boys really only recieve money when I happen to have a little change here and there, or sometimes they can "earn" it. Last Summer William sold some of his drawings at our garage sale.
Suffice it to say, this money has been a long time coming.
We finally arrived at the Martain Matter aisle. I asked William what one he wanted to buy for his brother. He couldn't decide. I told him that we could get both of them. William told me that he couldn't afford both. I said that I could buy one and he could buy one. He didn't want to do that. He wanted only to buy what he could afford. He picked out the blue and yellow Lunar Lava and we headed for the check-out.
The somewhat nice, young, teenage girl waited somewhat impatiently for us to count our coins. As we were counting the coins, I felt tears come to my eyes. "Why can't I just pay the money for him, " I thought. "This is so much money for him...but not much money for me." "He is doing something nice, he shouldn't have to use his own money."
That's when it hit me.
These are the moments that I must use restraint.
Yes, I could pay the money for him. Yes, it would be easier for me to swipe my credit card than to count little silver coins. Yes, it would be easier...but it would be a travesty. I silently thought to myself that maybe God has cried those same tears for me as he watches me struggle through a hard time alone, knowing that he could take the struggle so easily from me. How many times did my parents let me do it on my own?
I will never forget something that my mom told me when I was 18 years old. I had graduated high school and had been toying around with the idea of continuing to play soccer in college. After meeting with the University of Utah coach, I knew that I didn't want to play. I wanted to move on. My mom later told me that it was so hard to watch me make that decsion. She knew that soccer was something that I loved so much. But I had to do what I felt I needed to do.
I guess Heavenly Father gives us our children young for a reason. That way, we can learn to deal with little heart aches and heartbrakes...so that as they continually grow bigger and stronger, so also does our capacity to let our children grow and let go.
William needed to do this on his own. It was his way of seperating himself from me. His independence. And yes...he didn't need me. Well, he did use me for my car.