Sunday, April 26, 2009

Cover me ... I'm going in!



Today I had a rare Mom-ent. The house would be vacated by so that The Boy could play in a couple of soccer games and The Man could cheer him on. I would have at least three hours to ... to what? Typically I waste about half of my free time wondering how I should spend it. Should I take an uninterrupted nap? Go shopping without having to say NO at every endcap? Prepare a home-cooked meal? Those of you who know me well will know what the least likely option is.




For today's moment of bliss, I hesitated not. As The Man's car pulled away from the house, I pulled my hair into a ponytail, gritted my teeth, put The Pup in the kennel and pushed open the door to Jacob's room.




Wow.




We had just emptied his old dresser to hawk in the yard sale yesterday, so bits and baubles of toys and socks went everywhere. And then on top of that layer The Boy set up a tent and tunnel set. All I knew was that the most important thing that had been lost in that room was my sanity from having to walk past it daily and enter it to look for school uniforms. And I was going in.




The treasures that a boy covets are strange indeed. Rocks lined his windowsill from Arizona and Michigan (no wonder my suitcase tipped the 50-lb mark). Plastic beads from his preschool days mingled with Ninja Turtles. Pokemon cards marked the place where he had left off in a Captain Underpants book. Lego creations were left hastily in battle-mode, getting ready to attack a stack of erasers.




As I culled the mounds of toys for stray Happy Meal plastic parts and orphaned game pieces (that I can only throw away when Jake's not around to protest the disregard for his precious things), I realized yet again that I love the way this boy's mind works. His creativity warms me to the depths of my soul. His love for his family and his friends knows no boundaries. I found notes that he had written to his dad, birthday wish lists, pictures he had drawn for his cousins. And when I came across the sympathy card he made for us when our dog passed away in December and I saw the big red heart that he drew on Kai's chest (we had just found out that he had a large heart tumor), I paused yet again to marvel at his thoughtfulness.




The Boy's room is most always a mess. But everything is in just the right place in his heart.