Soul Renovatus

I thought this wouldn't happen yet...

Recently, we've been having conversations with Grace about boyfriends.  Apparently, some things she watched on Disney (or maybe HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL) have implanted these ideas in her brain.  When I picked her up at school yesterday, she had written the following letter to a boy named Donovan:

Julia had been talking with her about finding the "right boy" when she gets older, just like mommy did with daddy, hence the apparent conclusion that Donovan is the right boy for her. I also love the ending, "Love, the one that you love."  She is SO dramatic. To the right of the heart is Donovan's response to her letter (they sat together at lunch yesterday).  I told Grace that she can have friends that are boys, but not boyfriends.  She said, "But Donovan doesn't want to be my friend! He wants to be my boyfriend!" She also said, "I hate you!" That got a few toys taken away. I wasn't expecting to hear that line until she was 12 or so!

Julia responded, "Those are the kind of boys you need to stay away from."

She also said to her teachers that yesterday was the greatest day EVER.  After a brief discussion about said letter, she made this while I was doing the dishes:

 

Apparently, everything I said just went in one ear and out the other.

I thought I didn't have to worry about this kind of stuff yet? It's amazing though at the glimpses you get now and transpose them on when she becomes older.  She's going to be that girl. The one boys are going to start chasing, and she is going to eat it all up.  I can laugh now, because it's just so darn cute, but I don't know how I'll react when she gets older.  One thing for sure, Grace is such a passionate person, and I'm glad that she expresses it so vividly and unabashedly. I am praying that those passions are channeled in the right direction, toward the way of Jesus and changing the world.

Donovan and are going to have a talk soon.

Just don't ask...Grace does it again...

I was a little late picking Grace up from school today. She was upset.

I haven't seen her much in the last couple of days, so she was extra lovey-dovey when we got home. She also got a few Valentines stickers from Grammie and Papa, and told me, "I love you so much because you're so special!"

So I pressed, "What makes me so special, Grace?  What makes me unique?"

Grace looked like she was being quizzed, "Because you're my daddy!" She proceeded to squeeze me like a teddy bear.

But I pressed further, "But what makes me different than other daddies? What makes me different than everyone else?"

Grace thought really hard, then guessed, "Because you're colorblind?" 

I knew I shouldn't have asked her.

Another Grace classic...

Let's just say my daughter is a drama queen. I have no idea where she gets this from.  However, Julia dictated a conversation to me regarding Grace's recent dilemma:

Grace: (crying) "I hate my life!"

Julia: "What do you mean you hate your life!"

Grace: "I hate everything about my life!"

Julia: "So do you hate your toys? Do I need to give them away?"

Grace: (assertively) "No! I like my toys!"

Julia: "Do you hate mommy and daddy?"

Grace: "No...(starts trying to find a way out of her statement)...I hate my future!"

Julia: "What do you mean?"

Grace: (frustrated) "I can't be respectful, I'm making bad choices...I can't change! I can never change!"

Julia: "Sure you can change, sweetie. You're a great person.  Everybody can change."

Grace: "I want to go back to when I was 3, THEN I'll be more respectful and make better choices!"

Grace had just watched a movie, Minutemen, on TV, where these kids built a time machine, went back and made better choices (or ones that would give them an advantage).  Grace was sick all weekend, and of course was a little short on the temper, and had just gotten in trouble for some disrespectful comment or action.

It's eerie how similar Grace and I are.  I may not say those kind of things externally, but internally those voices are speaking all of the time.  I think 2-3 years ago, I listened to them constantly.  Now, not as much.  I can't say they're completely gone, but I've come a long way since 2 years ago.

There is no doubt that these stories of Grace are making a book someday.  She is so adorable and teaches Julia and I way too much about who God is to ignore it.

Grace's Halloween message...

My daughter the poet...

Ok, so my daughter continues to amaze me.  I already know that she is extremely creative, but it's getting to the point that it is something way beyond the norm.  I'm sure some would think I might have "daddy bias," which I'm sure I do, but these poems she wrote were just classic.  I scanned both of them so you could see them.  The first one is entitled "Dogs" that she wrote for her 1st grade class:

It was very Dr. Suessish.  Even the symmetry was pretty scary. 

The second poem she wrote came today while I was meeting with my friend Steve.  She was writing in my journal, and I remember Julia saying something before that she was bummed Grace didn't write about cats (since we have three and no dogs).  So Grace just spits out this poem in my journal entitled, "Cats."

I about peed my pants laughing.  I told her she had to pick a line to stop the purring, and she ended on the exact line she showed me.

I definitely need to encourage her to do more writing.  Heck, because of this, I think our whole family should have a "writing time" for our family time and just make up stuff.  It'd sure be a hoot!

I am awed at the many talents Grace continues to display.  I pray that I will not be the type of parent to hinder that type of creativity. 

Grace beats me again...

Alright, so we're on a daddy date, and we're at the mall when I see one of those crane machines.

I never win at these things.  I have some sort of horrible affinity toward these things. Yet, every time my daughter sees one, she wants me to try it.

Well, after several unsuccessful attempts over the years, she told me she wants to try it.  I told her how to do it, of course with no possibility of ever winning anything.

So, today, there's one for 2 tries for a buck. I go for it first, and almost get it on the 2nd try.  Grace says, "Let me try!"  I tell her no and she was upset because I didn't give her a chance.  I give in and put in another buck, she missed the first one pretty badly, and I'm about ready to walk away.  Suddenly, with her tongue sticking out, she deliberately lines the crane up, goes for an entirely different bear than we were trying for, and, voila, out pops a Care Bear. 

Even when it was hanging there I was just praying it wouldn't slip, but sure enough, it came flying down the chute, and Grace, at age 6, has once again beat her daddy at something.


I just really have to shut up on telling her what she can't do.  I think it's impossible for her to pickup, but she proves me wrong so many times.  I know it may seem lucky, but if you could have seen the focus on her face, taking the full 30 seconds, you would've thought differently.  She truly is a marvel!

Kids and Public Restrooms, Part 2: Porta Potties

Ok, this is a follow-up to my previous excursion with Grace and public restrooms if you want to remind yourself what happened.

We were at an opening dinner for a new local food share co-op at Trillium Haven Farm when all of the sudden Grace runs to the common area, dancing up and down, saying, "I have to go potty!"  Everyone is laughing.  The only one available is a porta potty about 500 feet down the way.  So, we fly over there I let her go in, and she starts taking about all of the "weird" things in there.  A line starts forming behind me as I'm waiting, and thankfully I didn't tell her to lock the door, so I could open it myself.  She starts saying, "Daddy this toilet doesn't flush, and what is this weird thing?"  So I open the door, and she's flipping up and down in her hand, this:

Yup. That's right, a urinal cake, covered in pee.  She's tossing it up and down like a coin saying it smells weird.  Of course, I'm totally grossed out, and thankfully we had some hand sanitizer.  So, if you have kids, or will someday, here is lesson number two with public restrooms, and in this case, porta potties:

Please educate your children not to touch anything AND about urinal cakes.

Ok, I'm done...I'm going to go wet my pants now.

My daughter says it again…

So my daughter was at it again with her classic quotes.  She was talking to my father-in-law on spring break when it started raining.  She confidently walks up to my father-in-law, and says, "The kids at school say that when it rains, God is crying, but I REALLY know what's going on…

…He's peeing!"

Why you shouldn't let your 6-year old go to a public "potty" by herself...

We were shopping in Meijer yesterday and my daughter had to "go to the potty."  She wants to go into the stall by herself.  I let her, and about about 2 minutes later she says, "Daddy, what is f-ck?  There was a guy in a stall next to her just let out an explosive snicker.  I say, "Honey, that's a very bad word, I don't want you saying it again."  She then proceeds to start reading some of the other things so I decided to tell to stop reading all the other stuff.

On the way home I told her it was a very nasty way of saying how two people love each other.  I just didn't feel like talking about sex yet...:)  So she says they should say love instead.  :)  So now every time she hears someone say the f-bomb, she's going to correct and them to say "love" instead...:)

I'm not sure if I should laugh, but I found it amusing, and I'm going to be a little more careful since her reading has vastly improved the last 4 months.

More classic quotes from my daughter...

So she's off with the grandparents for spring break, and my dad sent back a little report on some conversations that happened.  Let's just say Grace is a little strong-willed (I have NO IDEA where she gets that from) to say the least. I got this little snippet from my dad:

"Sat night was rough as we had bought apple juice and told Grace 3 times in two hours not to pour the juice into some plastic bowl she had with her dolls. Grandma took the juice away the third time and said, "Grace we've told you twice...this is new carpet and we don't want you to spill this juice and get the carpet dirty." Grace snapped back and said, "I want my juice back! The carpet already looks dirty to me."

Hilarious!  I'm not sure if they replaced the carpet recently, but last time I was there it did look dirty, so maybe she was being honest.  :)  She's so fun.