A Sneaky Old Lady

I was waiting in line with Matthew. It was the express lane or fast lane for those with few items. More people started to line up behind me, but suddenly out of no where an older lady, probably in her seventies, stood in front of me. She was holding a pouch of seeds. I thought to myself - she is probably with the lady that was in front of me. After all she stood very close to her.

The old lady gave the cashier the seeds and paid. The first lady front of her already took off. What did I miss? No excuse me, no eye contact. She was just a sneaky old lady that was able to get her self in smoothly, but acted not that smoothly as the lady below ...

A young man was walking through a supermarket to pick up a few things when he noticed an old lady following him around. Thinking nothing of it, he ignored her and continued on. Finally he went to the checkout line, but she got in front of him.

'I'm sorry if my staring at you has made you feel uncomfortable. It's just that you look just like my son, who I haven't seen in a long time.' - she said.

'That's a shame' - replied the young man.
'Is there anything I can do for you?' - he added.

'Yes' - she said.
'As I'm leaving, can you say Good bye, Mother! It would make me feel so much better.' - she said.

'Sure' - answered the young man.
As the old woman was leaving, he called out - 'Good bye, Mother!'

As he stepped up to the checkout counter, he saw that his total was $127.50.
'How can that be?' - he asked, 'I only purchased a few things!'
'Your mother said that you would pay for her' - said the clerk.

Ouch! I am glad then that she only got in front of me, and nothing more.

Warning! Chocking Hazard - Do Not Eat It

Matthew is now three years old and is starting to behave like one too. I don't know if it is me, but he showed some changes right on his birthday. On the day of his big day we went out for a small lunch. During the lunch Matthew was acting like a little man, no more booster chair, sitting on his own chair and enjoying his meal. With a little shyness on his face went up to the server in the kitchen area and asked for 'after lunch treat' - the ice cream.

I also noticed that Matthew wants to read and is very curious what is written everywhere. 'What does it say here?' - he would ask. Couple of days ago we walked to our local supermarket. It is about 1 km walk one way. It is a nice walk through the park and little trail. I nice walk full of nature's surprises.

At the store Matthew got himself another figurine - The Iron Man 2 Mark V, the one with the suitcase. He is always so fascinated when in the movie Tony Stark's iron man suite in the suite case morphs into the Iron Man. I also bought him a bun to munch going home.

At some point, out of blue Matthew grabs with both hands nice green grass. Okay I thought he will fill up his pockets again, no he started to eat it. 'Oh Matthew, spit it out, spit it out' - I yelled. 'Phew' - luckily at the same time he was eating a bun. The soccer field grass is usually sprayed and full of chemicals. 'No eating grass' - I said firmly. Then going up the hill, he started to reach out for the tree with a smile on his face. 'No eating trees either' - I said it again.

I will check with the doctor, may be there is something like 'green pigment deficiency' or simply he is still teething, which is true.

As the journey continued, he took the Iron Man toy from me and tried to read what was written on the packaging. 'What does it say here?' - he asked. 'WARNING CHOCKING HAZARD' - I read. 'In other words, do not eat the iron man?' - I explained. 'WARNING DO NOT EAT THE IRON MAN' - Matthew repeated. 'Well, warning also could be for DO NOT EAT GRASS OR TREES' - I continued. Matthew laughed, but understood.

Last night we were going out. As daddy was strapping Matthew into the car seat, I tried to test his knowledge and to see if he remembered the WARNING word. I pointed on the WARNING word in the car, 'Matthew can you read this?' Matthew looked closely, thought about it and replied - 'WARNING DO NOT EAT THE CAR'.

Letter to Matthew - Today Is Your 3rd Birthday

Every year day before Matthew's birthday I start to write a letter, and finish on his birthday. A letter outlining how Matthew enjoyed his life in the past 12 months. I started this tradition on my photo blog My Only Photo. This year is for Matthew's third birthday. I know that sometimes it is hard to keep up with reading, especially if you have lot of blogging friends, so do not feel obligated to read, however, you can enjoy his pictorial gallery. Read More ...

The Need To Win

I know I have not been posting a lot lately here. However, everyday I want to write here, I just don't make it. Days are busy with Matthew, and really feel bad when I have to let him play alone. Every day I think about things I can write here, but now they are just titles and notes in my notebook. I will, I will - just like in the book The Little Engine That Could - 'I think I can, I think I can'.

Let me share something I read recently in the The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton, a little book I once picked up at the bookstore. I can also relate.

'When an archer is shooting for nothing
He has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle
He is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
He goes blind
Or sees two targets - 
He is out of his mind!


His skill has not changed. But the prize
Divides him. He cares.
He thinks more of winning
Than of shooting -
And the need to win
Drains him of power.'

Our Children Are Our Greatest Teachers

Learning is something Matthew enjoys very much, however, he also knows what to do when things are getting harder with learning. When things are getting harder, not just children, us too, sometimes we redirect our energies somewhere else. Let's see how Matthew redirects his. He will be three years old in about plus two months.

I started Mommy's school a couple of weeks ago. Mommy (me) is a teacher and Matthew is my only student.

Day 1: 'Welcome to the Mommy's School' - my invitation.
'Yes, Mommy Matthew is coming to Mommy's school' - he would yell with excitement, come and sit on his colored chair. He would also say things like 'Yes Mommy teacher, lets get stickers'. He loves stickers every time he finishes one page of tracing.

Day 2: 'Welcome to the Mommy's School' - my invitation.
'Oh yes, lets go to school' - Matthew would yell again with excitement and come running to his colored chair.
He is drawing lines, zig zag's and spirals. Two pages completed at no time. He gets a sticker, smiles and walks away from my school to play with other stuff.

Day 3, 4 'Welcome to the Mommy's School' - my invitation.
'Yes I am coming to Mommy's school' - Matthew would reply every time.
However, he starts to slow down. Pages are getting a bit harder to trace - circles, squares, triangles, diamonds. One page per one school day now. He gets a sticker, but this time he gets it himself - he picks, he sticks. Matthew is gaining more control over my school.

Day 5 'Welcome to the Mommy's School' - my invitation.
'But Mommy, you sit Matthew's chair, I sit Mommy's chair' - Matthew replied on the day five.
'Mommy you be student, Matthew be teacher' - he announced and would not let me talk.
'Mommy you WRITE' - he commended me before I opened my mouth.

'Our children are our greatest teachers' - goes with this story.