Wisdom of Youth

When my son was in kindergarten, I was looking forward to our first spring break together. As I was teaching part time and subbing that year, I was excited about a free week and all the projects I could get done. At dinner one night I talked about all the things I was going to put on my to do list for the week. My son piped up and asked for his own paper and pencil so he could write his own list. I was so proud. Then he said, "How do you spell 'nothing?' "

This was a pivotal moment in our life together as driven mother and laid-back son. And now, several years later, he has done it again.

Now, we are thinking about our summer off from school. Last year I worked like a maniac to get the library the way I wanted it - at least some of the major projects I wanted done. I promised him I wouldn't do that again this year. But as June has gotten closer we've got more and more things on our schedule - vacation, church camp, basketball camp, swimming, golf, reading, etc. As I started thinking through my son's schedule for the summer, I felt as though it was slipping away before it even arrived.

And then my son said he wanted to cut a couple things out of the schedule so he had more free time for the summer.

He may be in elementary school, but he is a wise boy - at least when it comes to work vs. rest. And he is teaching his mother all the time.

So, we have called off some of the activities we had been talking about for the summer. I'll keep working at listening to my son's reminders to rest and play at least as much as I work and get things done. We'll see if we can feel rested at the end of the summer this year.