The other 'man' in my life...

I love my son Brock. I don't think kids know their own 'greatness' sometimes, and he certainly falls into this category. Those top two photos are for the grandmas who read my blog. He is so proud of his developing abilities in the game of lacrosse, but most other sports he struggles to fit in and compete. I keep trying to tell him {and Chip does too} that you can't be good at everything, but that the main thing, no matter what you are doing or trying to learn, is to always give it your best effort. That way even if you 'fail', you can be confident that you did all you could.
It's a lesson I'm still learning in my own life sometimes, but true in all our lives.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to take Brock out on a 'date'. He won a giftcard at school the other week for a local store. Any guesses to where we went?
Barnes & Noble.
He absolutely LOVED it there! I lost him a few times because he just went from section to section totally enthralled at every new topic he came upon and he just couldn't get enough of it. I had expected him to be excited to pick out a book or two with his card, but figured once he'd made his selection he would be just as happy to head to the checkout and leave for someplace more 'fun'.
We ended up spending a little over two hours there, browsing books and discussing what was so great about different subjects and authors' styles and he especially loves history and nonfiction- but also really loves the classics in the 7-12 age range right now. He finally chose a book, and had a couple of dollars left on his card, and it just made me love him more when he said, "Let's go find a book that the girls will love and bring it home to them...it'll make them so happy".
It honestly was the best 2 hours I've spent with him in a long time. No demands, no interruptions, no agenda...just us, time and a really rich environment for conversation and fun mix of topics. When we left he said it's his new favorite place and he plans to ask for Barnes & Noble giftcards for birthdays and Christmas from here on out. =)
I know it's hard to make 'time' for all my kids individually, but after hearing about so many of your childhood memories a few posts back, it made me see that it's not the 'big, spendy events/trips/gifts' that make the greatest impacts in someone's life, but rather the time spent with someone, sharing life/something they love. I was also surprised at how many peoples' fondest memories from childhood involved their grandparents...and hopefully my kids will grow up knowing how much they are loved by their grandparents even though our visits are too far and few at this time in their lives.
I just wanted to share all this because 1) it was such a wonderful, simple date and 2) to remind myself {and any of you} that time matters more than things. Sometimes our advertising-infused culture drowns out this message and we really need to hear it and remember it each day. I hope I can be a good influence in all my kids lives- to help weed out the junk and help grow them into the truly 'great people' they have the potential to be!