Layers

Some styles are not for everybody. We all want to fit in and at times wear things that are unflattering to our bodies because we think it makes us look like part of the "in" crowd. Who gets to decide what's "in" and what's "out"? And why do we let them decide that for us?

I am reminded through my son's actions how young of an age this starts. We all want to belong and be loved. It's the way God made us. Often times we choose the wrong way to get acceptance. We look to man to fill that need, when the answer lies in looking to God.

Layering is in. In fact, I found 7 rules to layering. These are not original to me.

Rule #1 - Thinner clothes first
Rule #2 - Define the layer
Rule #3 - Keep it casual
Rule #4 - Always feel comfortable
Rule #5 - Mix in some color
Rule #6 - Layering is practical
Rule #7 - Jacket not required

I have two children that care about how an outfit goes together, and one that grabs the top clothing item in the drawer. Zechariah is one that cares. He has noticed the style of his older sister. He wants to fit it. He doesn't realize this style is called layering. He just knows he wants to wear 2 shirts. It makes him cool.

No matter what temperature it is outside, he will walk out of his room with two very warm shirts. He hasn't quite figured out the "rules" and the correct way it's supposed to be done. I love his innocence.

When he walks out in his multi-layered outfits, I have been guilty many times of telling him to change. It's not practical. It's hot outside in the summer, and the extra shirts are going to make him sweat... more. Zech is always highly disappointed when I don't approve his outfit. I'm guilty of the same desire for approval. I can't let him leave the house wearing it. What would people think about me as a mother? That I don't care what my son looks like? Or what if they were thinking I thought he looked good? Ouch. I didn't mean to go this deep on my post.

The story always ends the same. I make him change. I am trying to guide him to what I think looks good. On more than one occasion he has been angry with me for this.

A few weeks ago, Zech called me into the bathroom. He is still learning the basics of clothes and doesn't always get his underwear pulled up straight and flat. When it bunches it leaves red marks cutting into his skin. It's uncomfortable for him, and I am required to help.

I soon found out why I was no longer needing to ask Zech to change his clothes. He was slyly layering his underwear. Zech had four pairs of underwear that day! If only everyone around him knew just how "stylish" he really was.

Work

Zechariah likes to drink chocolate milk. He isn't able to mix it himself, but he sure can drink it. The other day I was making a glass for him, and asked him to put the milk away. His response was disheartening.

"No. I don't want to. I just want to drink my chocolate milk."

"What do you mean you DON'T want to? You afraid of a little work?"

"No. I don't like to work.

This response didn't go over very well with me. I made him do it anyway, and tried to explain that we all have to do work whether or not we really want to, and then I added, "Right, Gabe?"

He was sitting at the table coloring and I knew he would appreciate the conversation.

Gabriel gave me a very exaggerated, "Yes. I have to do SO MUCH work. You're lucky, Zech!"

I found this a bit comical. He was referring to the few chores he does around the house. On Saturday's he cleans the bathrooms, and twice a week he washes the dishes. His room is also supposed to be kept clean. This pretty much is where the work ends for him. I might ask him to take out the garbage or the recycling, but that about covers it.

I couldn't resist emphasizing how easy he has it as a child, and that he should enjoy it while it lasts. When did I turn into my mother?

His acknowledgement was priceless. I will never let my husband forget it.

"Well, at least I'm going to be the husband when I grow up. When you're the mom you have to work like 24 hours a day, every day. And dad works what, like 11 hours? And then he gets to play for the rest of the day!"

Hook-Off

I think some of the funniest things my kids say comes from watching TV with them. It's like experiencing a whole new world through their eyes.

Our latest series we have immersed the family into, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. We've even gone so far as to wear costumes to the showing of it in our living room.

At the close of the show, as Lex Luther got away with killing 3 people, and it was speculated that he probably had killed even more, Gabriel sighed in exasperation. "Aww... it's a hook-off!"

Bewilderment followed, "What?"

"You know, when you're hooked, and then you fall off the hook. A hook-off."

Completely perplexed I asked again, "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!"

He laughs at me, as if I am very uneducated in my vocabulary. He proceeds to give me the definition, "A hook-off is like at the end of a really good chapter, and you want to know what happens, but you have to read more of the book. It's called a hook-off."

"You mean a cliffhanger?"

More giggles follow, "Ohh.. whoops!"

Beach Boys

One of our favorite things to do with our kids on a weeknight is watch old TV shows on DVD. We don't ever watch live TV. It can be a little risky and we don't want to view anything we would be uncomfortable watching. This way, there are no commercial interruptions, and we know ahead of time what we will be getting ourselves into.

Months are spent getting to know all different characters. We have spent years with I Love Lucy, Monk, and Columbo. We have spent time with Zach from Saved by the Bell, and Cory from Boy Meets World. We've enjoyed evenings with Steve Urkel from Family Matters. We have been entertained by lots of different families. But I think my absolute favorite has got to be the Tanner family from Full House.

As we concluded an episode of Full House where DJ Tanner wins tickets on the radio to meet and attend a concert for the Beach Boys, Zech had stars in his eyes. He was deeply impressed by the concert.

He fell back onto the couch, his feet flying high into the air, and exhaled, "I hope someday the Beach Mans can be in our town."

He stopped a second, "Oh wait. I mean the Beach Boys."

I found this exceptionally funny because right now on Full House, Stephanie Tanner is the same age as Zech, and at her first impression of the Beach Boys, she utters the words, "Big Boys."

The name just doesn't make sense to little kids...

Hockey

Our Saturday night was spent watching the Topeka Roadrunner's hockey team. I believe in order to drum up more business they like to partner with local schools; this time Gabe's. The 3rd through 5th graders had the privilege of walking out onto the ice to sing our national anthem. My son jumped at this chance! The rest of us tagged along to watch. It was different than our normal Saturday night, but proved to be a fun evening.

Zechariah watched his first hockey game. He was most thrilled to see the mascot, Reggie. No matter where he was, Zech kept an eye out for him. Reggie had more action then the team of hockey players, at least from Zech's perspective. At one point Zech was shocked and saddened to learn that Reggie was a man inside a costume. He thought he was real.

The funniest comment was about half way through the game, Zech was watching very intently. The score was 2:1, the Roadrunners were winning. Zech informed me in his best know-it-all voice, "Those black ones are not very good cause they're not on our team and they keep running into all those walls."

The Roadrunners were rather aggressive, and picked a few fights with the opposing team. To Zech's eyes the "black ones" were running into the walls, when they were in fact being rammed into those walls.

Darth Vader

Today Zech and I found a really cool Darth Vader mask at Goodwill. Zech has been obsessed with Star Wars for the past couple of weeks. If he gets to choose a movie, he wants to watch one of the original Star Wars. It must have Darth Vader.

As we were checking out at the register, Zech was pretty excited about his mask. He told the lady, "Do you know somebody is actually called Darth Vader?"

She smiled at him.

"Even it's on a Star Worlds movie. I even have a game of it."

She seemed impressed.

"It was a Darth Vader mask!" He said with a somber tone.

"Ohhh... He's the bad guy, right?" she questioned.

Zech corrected her, "Actually, no. He's really not. He's just the father."

Flowers

When Gabe was 4 years old, he kept saying he wanted to marry Zana. She was 7 months old and pretty as can be. Gabe had just fallen in love with her.

We were taking a nature walk at the Museum grounds. The grass is very tall and is covered with wild flowers. It’s very beautiful. Gabriel picked several flowers and said they were “for Zana… for our wedding.”

After walking the trails for another hour, I thought he would have forgotten about them. But after getting into the car, Gabe asks me, “Can we bring these flowers over to Zana’s house now?”

Who can resist such a cute request?

We drove to Zana's, and I thought I was going to be walking him up to the door, but he says, “no, I want to go do this by myself.”

So I just quickly bunch the flowers together for him. And once he’s got a hold of them he says, very seriously, “Mom, get back in the car now.”

Oh boy… I felt like he was a teenager already and here I was embarrassing him. I got back in the car and Gabriel walked up to Zana’s house, rang her doorbell and dropped off her flowers, just looking as cute as can be.

When he sat back in his seat he says, still serious, “Mom, I’m all grown up now.”

Then to top it off, he hears me and Grandma discussing what he had just done. So he kind of laughs and says, “That was really cute when I did that, wasn’t it?”

Gabriel, you just melt my heart. You are going to make one terrific husband some day!