Today was the first day of school for all of my dear darlings. I absolutely CANNOT believe that I have 4th, 2nd, and 1st graders (no, Selah, my baby, I didn't forget that you are in 4 year old kindergarten!). My, how the time has flown!!! I think of my sweet William, my eldest child, and the day he was born. I remember thinking in the hospital, I don't want him to ever go school or grow up. And I thought the same of each subsequent child. Well, it happened like magic - right before my eyes. Usually on the 1st day of school there is so much excitement that NO ONE has any trouble waking up. I didn't even set their alarm clocks. I knew they would pop out of bed. Usually there is no arguing about anything on the 1st day of school. After everyone was dressed in their new school clothes, backpacks on their backs, pictures taken by Mom, and both dogs and the neighbor cat kissed and hugged good-bye - we loaded the car and headed to school.
I ran to Walmart to get toilet paper (can you believe I forgot that on my early morning trip on Saturday???). I think we only had one square left. After my Walmart trip, I power-walked for 40 minutes. When I came in the door from walking, I noticed a green lunch bag on the counter. It was Will's!!! I got BACK INTO my car and raced up to the school to get the lunch bag to him before lunch. What would they do without Mom????
After school, the girl's changed clothes in the car into their dance uniforms and they ate the snack I packed. We had to be in Vestavia by 3:45!!!!!!! We were going a million miles/hour by the time school got out. WELCOME BACK TO THE REAL WORLD!!! I honestly think everyone in the Nesmith household is ready to get back into a routine, though. It's kind of a nice change of pace.
After dance, we headed home. The kids played outside for a little bit to run off some pent-up energy after a long day sitting in a chair and listening. Then suddenly, Sarah came back downstairs in a major tizzy!!! "Where are all of my stuffed animals and babies and my covers for my bed and my pillows??????". She found Sus and told her, "Susannah, have you seen the upstairs...where is all of our stuff???". They both came racing downstairs and voiced their concern to Keith and I. They were freaking out - mildy. Not!!!
When we were sitting at the dinner table together, Keith and I explained why all of their comforts of home were missing. All of us, but mostly the kids have really taken for granted all of the "things" they have. Keith and I have been racking our brains on how to make our kids understand how lucky and blessed they truly are. I mean, they just happened to be born in the United States of America, live in a safe city, borne to two parents who still love each other very much, have an address, etc... BUT, as kids do, they kept asking for more and more and more (and not just asking - throwing fits, crying, using hateful names, etc.). It finally bothered Keith and I so much that we decided to show them how lucky they REALLY are. I mean, we tell them all the time, but we wanted them to "feel" the difference. We kept telling them that they are ungrateful, but we thought to ourselves - how can they be more grateful. How does a kid act out gratefulness. We are not teaching them anything by simply labeling them ungrateful. This has GOT to be a teaching moment. So today, EVERYTHING, except ONE stuffed animal/baby doll, ONE blanket, ONE sheet, and ONE pillow was taken out of their rooms and playroom. No toys, no TV, no iPad games, no video games. They can play outside (which they do anyway), ride their bikes, color, draw, read, or talk to each other. No fast food on Fridays, only meals at home. If we are out of food, it's peanut butter sandwiches. Our goal is doing this for 2 weeks, but we will re-evaluate at that time.
We did not make them feel guilty. We told them that they were NOT in trouble. We told them that this is an experiment that we are doing together. We did not bring up or remind them of any of the specific events that led to this decision. We didn't want them to think we decided this based on a "knee-jerk" reaction. We tried to be gentle and loving when telling them about this.
After all the kids finished their daily reading, showered, and brushed their teeth, we ALL laid down on the concrete outside to watch the clouds. Crazy, right??? We pretended the clouds were the ocean. We even told each other, "Hey, you want to go to the beach?". The kids said the bats looked like the fish in the sea, the airplanes were the boats, the puffy clouds were the waves, and so on. We even all closed our eyes and got still and quiet to guess how many different kinds of summer bugs we could hear serenading us. I'm sure if the neighbors looked out their window, they thought "Wow, those Nesmith's are weirder than we thought". But is was a really neat moment together. See, we take those small, but big things for granted!!!
All in all - it was a great day!!!
Verse of the day: "All night long I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek for God. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right."
Isaiah 26:9
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