Was It Worth It?

One of the very best things about teaching at a Christian school is the opportunity I have to talk with my students about my Faith. I love when we can have real conversations about the deeper meaning of Scripture and they take what we read and apply it to their lives. Those are wonderful moments. Today I had a wonderful "ah-ha" moment of my own. 

This year we are focusing on Old Testament history. Today we were finishing up a discussion on Cain and Abel which, of course, brought up the topic of sin and repentance. Finally one of my students raised her hand and said, "Mrs. Valente, I just don't get it. God knows everything, right?"

"Yes," I said.

"So He knew before He made the world that there would be sin, right?"

"Yep."

"That's what I don't get, if He knew there would be sin, why did He create the world in the first place?"

I thought that was a wonderful question, and one I'm sure that many have had in the past. I thought for a moment, and knowing my students as I do, I knew that putting it in relatable terms would be the best way to go - and what's more relatable than Abby?

Here’s what I told them:

Before I became a parent no one told me how hard it was going to be. They may have tried to, but I wouldn’t listen. You all know my Abby, and she can be a lot of work - all kids are. Sometimes I get really frustrated, but you know what? If I knew then, before Abby, what I know now, I would most certainly still want to have her - just the way she is. See, any frustration, fear, and work that I have because of her is nothing in comparison to the absolute love I have for her. I love her deeply, even when she is not being lovable, and nothing compares to the joy that she brings into my life. That’s the closest I can get to how I imagine God feels about us. He loves us so much, that even though He knew before he created us that we would be sinful, He also knew how much he would love us.

That seemed to make sense to her and we moved on, but I kept coming back to that today. I have always felt so very blessed to be Abby’s mom, that of all the people in the world God gave her to us. Even though there are moments when I get terribly exasperated, nothing compares to the love that I have for that kid.

That, in itself was a lovely thought, but coupled with the fact that I cannot comprehend the amount of love that the Father has for me made it even better. Let me tell you, it was a wonderful way to start my day.

Well worth it, don't you agree?

Emma

Between Abby's tummy issues and Jason's hand incident, it had been a few weeks since Abby had been to church. I got word this week that a couple of Abby’s favorites (Mrs. D and Emma) would be in the nursery, and that they were so excited to spend some time with her.

We arrived at church and Abby was thrilled to see many of her buddies. The school kids were singing during the service, so many of them were milling around waiting for the service to start. She was so excited to see them all, that she wanted to stay with them, but thanks to Carter, Abby was off to the nursery.

I can only imagine the fun that Emma, Mrs. D, and Abby were up to during the service. (I saw later that Emma had even come prepared - she’d brought her gym shoes incase Abby had her doing aerobics like last time.) Abby even got the bonus of visiting with an old friend when Ms. Danielle (her buddy from child care a few years ago) brought her daughter down to the nursery. I know she had a great time.

Soon enough it was time for Communion. I will typically go get her at this point so she can come to the altar with me. I went down to get her, but she wanted to stay with Emma. Luckily they were heading up to Communion as well, so Abby held tight onto Emma and Mrs. D’s hands and we all were off.

While we waited in the back of church Abby continued to charm Emma. Abby hugged, cuddled, and would periodically lean back to examine Emma’s face. I’ve mentioned before that Emma is a former student of mine. She is a lovely young lady who has just begun her freshmen year of high school. Now Emma looks much like any other high school freshmen, but she does stand out because of her auburn hair. Although I’ve never asked, between her hair and the cute freckles that cover her face, I would guess that Emma has some Irish heritage. She also has a wonderful sense of humor, which I was grateful for this morning when Abby leaned back and pointed to Emma’s face and mentioned the “polka-dots” there. 

Unfortunately this was not Abby’s most embarrassing church moment of the morning. 

Abby convinced us all that she would be good, if only she could go to Communion with Emma. I made sure that Mrs. D would be in front of Abby and Emma, and I would be behind them and we set off to get into line. Unfortunately, we had to wait a bit at the front of the church. Abby had been good going down, so we all had a false sense of security. Eventually she got a good look around at things and she apparently spied the music stand and microphone, because suddenly I heard her say, “I try the microphone!” and watched her shoot forward. She was too quick and I wasn’t able to grab her until we had run across the front of the church and she stopped by the piano. That’s when I decided that Abby needed to go back out of the church, so I scooped her up and headed up the side aisle. Once Abby realized what was happening she started calling for Emma. Yes, as the whole church looked on I was carting my squirming kid past them while she yelled for her friend Emma.

By the time I got her to the back of the church and through the glass doors, she was in tears. What a sight she was as she sat at the door, looking into the sanctuary and crying for Emma.

With the help of some others she was soon distracted and the tears dried up, but it still took that darling Emma to get Abby to the car. She so kindly walked us out to the parking lot and buckled Abby in, while Abby continued trying to convince Emma that she should go to Emma’s house.

Throughout the day Abby would talk about getting to play with Emma, and how she wanted to see her next week, and I assured her that she would indeed get to see Emma at church, but next week I think I will let them visit once the service is over. 

This wasn't from today, but it proves my point:
it's a good thing she is so cute!

The Study Breaker

Today I got a great idea for a job for Abby. I decided that I’m going to advertise at the surrounding colleges and universities for her to provide the service of “Study Breaker”. See, I figure that as the college students are studying, they need to take periodic breaks, just to let their minds rest, but instead of going out for pizza and beer (which we all know adds to “the freshmen 15”), they could simply call on Abby. What fun they all would have dancing, singing, making up funny stories, and playing hide-and-seek. Honestly, I think it’s genius.

The best part of it is that Abby would have a constant stream of entertainment. When one student needed to get back to her studies, another one would be there, waiting to take her place.

This idea came to me today as I parked myself in front of my computer to catch up on a week’s worth of grad school assignments. With the start of school, I’d let things slide and ended up arriving at the due date (today) with virtually nothing done. I got right to it, but before long Abby was at my elbow asking for something. It seemed that I would write a sentence and then once again be interrupted to make some popcorn, or change a channel, or even to accept some mail from Postman Abby. I know that these days when I have homework to work are are especially hard on Abby. She just wants to spend time with me and have fun, so round about the 10th time I was pulled away from my work I finally gave up. Jason was at the hospital getting one of his daily IV treatments and so I trusted that by the time he got back Abby would get to spend some time with him and I could get to work. 

I left my computer and gave all my attention to Abby, and you know, we had a great time. We ended up writing a pretty sweet little story about Princess Abigail and then found an app that allowed us to draw and record our story (My Story), then save it to iBook. By the time we’d published our little masterpiece it was time for some lunch, and Jason was home. 

Being the stellar dad that he is, he’d swung by the toy store on his way home and picked up a new costume for Abby. Abby ripped into that paper and found her new vet outfit. Once we got everything out of the packaging she put it on and got to work. The costume came with a small stuffed puppy, but she quickly discarded that - she had Bruiser after all. I heard Jason mutter, “That dog’s a saint,” as Abby poked, prodded and told him to “hold still, Bruiser!” I have to say it was rather entertaining when she told him, “This is going to hurt - a lot,” before she gave him a “shot” in his paw. I’m sure he was grateful for the warning, as well as the, “Good job, Bruiser!” he got when it was finished. If I didn’t already love that dog, I would have after watching him with Abby. He just laid there and let her examine him - he is a saint.

I was able to get some work done as Vet Abby went upstairs with Dada for a bit. It wasn’t long though before I needed another break from all the heavy thinking I was doing, and from the sound of things Abby and Dada had run out of entertaining ideas as well. So, I got another break which involved a giggly kid that was fresh from the tub and a yummy popsicle treat.

This was how the day went, work-Abby-work-Abby, and so on, until before I knew it, it was 5 o’clock. As hard as it was to do so much homework in one day, it did help to have those periodic Abby study breaks. That’s why I think Abby would be such a hit with those other college students. I know they would get a kick out of her, and she would love to play all day. It’s a win-win. 

Sure, she's a bit off on the whole "listening to his heart" thing,
but he didn't seem to mind.

He looks a bit worried, don't you think?

Checking his temperature - in the ear - an excellent choice.

After dinner Mom needed a coffee, so we set out. It took us
a bit to leave though, because Dr. Abby needed to do some
tap dancing on the way to the car.

Free Spirit

Each weekday morning I head out of the house by seven a.m., in order to be to school on time for our 7:30 devotions. Before I leave though, I make sure that everything is ready to go for Abby's school day. I pack her lunch, I pack her bag, and I lay out clothes. I want to make sure that I do my part to make the morning go smoothly. I know that there are times when it is tough to get Abby focused and moving, especially when there is a time deadline (like a waiting bus) to deal with.

This system works out on the other end of the day. Jason puts Abby on the bus, but I get to get her off the bus. I realized today that not only do I look forward to seeing Abby because I miss her, I look forward to seeing what she looks like. See, with Abby it is always a surprise.

Even though I lay out clothes for her in the morning, there is no guarantee that that will be what she’s wearing when she appears at the top of the bus’s steps. On Wednesday there wasn’t too much of a surprise, although she was at the point where she was refusing to wear her shoes, but yesterday and today her appearance had me laughing. Yesterday I’d laid out one of her favorite summer dresses, a nice little light blue one with bright pink flowers. We decided that shorts would be a good addition to ensure modesty, so I made sure to put a pair carefully on her dress....But when she walked to the front of the bus I was surprised to see that paired with the dress, were a pair of navy tights that were covered in rainbow polka-dots. My immediate assumption was that  Abby had found them in the morning and Jason had decided that it wasn’t worth the battle. When I asked him about it, he smiled a little smile and said, “Yeah, that’s just how it happened.” It made me wonder who really was behind the polka-dot tights.

This afternoon I had yet another surprise. Abby came moseying on up to the door of the bus wearing the cute pink skirt and striped shirt that I’d picked out - along with her black and red cowboy boots. That’s when I let out a laugh and made the comment to Ms. Cathy that I never knew what I would see when she appeared. She laughed and said, “I’m sure you don’t. I think that Dad lets her be a free spirit and just wants her to be happy.” I most certainly agreed.

The more I thought about what she said, the more I liked it. I think that it is wonderful that Jason loves Abby so much that he will encourage her unique style to shine through. I could learn something from that, because often Abby and I get in battles about what she will wear. Sometimes she wins, sometimes I win, and sometimes we compromise, but I need to remember that often it doesn’t matter - that it is more important for her to be happy and let her free spirit shine through.

Sometimes Abby wins...

Sometimes Mom wins...

And sometimes we compromise.

Cartoon Abby

Tired

It's only the second full day of school, and if I didn't value those couple of hours when I can veg in front of the T.V., I would crawl into bed as soon as I finish this post. Every year I forget how tiring managing a room full of preteens is. I know it will get better - that I will once again build up my stamina for being on my feet all day, paying attention to four things at once, while at the same time staying focused enough to conduct a lesson, and having limited potty breaks, but right now - it's killin' me.

Abby is feeling the "hurt" of getting back into the routine as well. I saw it clearly when she got off the bus, or maybe I should say when she wouldn't get off the bus. She wanted to hang a bit longer with her good friend Annalise, and Ms. Cathy and I had to pull her away - literally - as if we were separating soul mates. She kept saying, "Annalise....Annalise..." as I hoisted her out the door of the bus, and she reached out beyond my shoulder to her friend. We finally got in the house and, boy, that's when her stubborn streak really came out to play!

Almost immediately, she insisted on pulling one of the dinning room chairs to the front door to have a seat. I have no idea why, it wasn't as if the door was open, she just wanted to sit in front of it. Well...okay...go ahead. I went into the other room to look through her papers.

The next thing I knew, she came into the room with her hands behind her back. When I looked at her and asked what she was hiding she said, "Shhhhh...." This is a sure sign that she has something she knows she isn't supposed to have. She finally turned enough for me to see that she had Bruiser's brush. This wouldn't normally be a big deal - if I was certain she wouldn't use the brush on her hair, but that isn't a guarantee, so the counting began. It took until, "Abby that's two" for her to put it back.

Apparently stubbornness makes you hungry, because then she wanted to eat. That's all good, so as I made her dinner, she distracted herself by cutting up paper. I've mentioned before how much Abby loves to cut paper. She will sit for quite some time, happily making piles of tiny pieces of cut paper for me to clean up later. The practice is good for her, and she hasn't destroyed anything, so I don't mind....well, she hasn't destroyed anything....until tonight. It was when I went in to give her her dinner that saw little pieces of what looked like white fluff on her table. My eyes were then drawn to the floor where the remnants of a poor sock lay in pieces. She had taken off one of her socks - and cut the darn thing to pieces! That was how Abby earned her first "grounding". I feel a bit ridiculous writing this, but Abby has been grounded from scissors until further notice.

This was how our afternoon went. We did have a few moments of fun, getting Bruiser going, but it seemed like I did an awful lot of "counting" and she did quite a bit of "fit-throwing". It's no wonder that we were both happy to see Jason when he got home from work.

Unfortunately, it was right after another Battle of the Wills that he realized he'd forgotten something at work. Abby wanted to go with him, but she had to stay home with mean-old-Mom. That's when the laying-on-the-floor-and-weep-as-if-your-heart-is-breaking started. It was clear - Abby was just as exhausted as I was.

She finally let me comfort her and we decided a bath would be a great way to soothe her tired body and mind. After her bath we went straight to her room for some quiet time. I could see further signs of her exhaustion in her poor red eyes and the periodic yawns that escaped. All was good until Mom called it quits on the coloring we'd been doing. Once again she was not happy and needed Dada.

They are now enjoying some nice cuddle time, and since it has been quite a while since I heard any stirrings, I can only assume that she's succumbed to her sleepiness.

Hopefully the earlier bedtimes will help, but I suspect that Abby is just like her Mama, and needs to build up her stamina after a long, lazy summer. For now, I'm just praying that we get through the next two days with our sanity in tact.

Shocker: Abby didn't want her picture taken
today. So she threw me this look between
her Snow Whites.

Then she really got ticked when I wouldn't stop - so the
tongue came out - lovely!

The First Day Interview

We have every indication that Abby's first day back to school went smoothly. She was smiling when she got on the bus, and so excited to see Miss Cathy, and she was smiling when she got off the bus. Since we only had her mood (which was great) to go by, I thought I would ask her a few questions about her first day back. Here's how it went:

Mom: How was your day today?

Abby: Good

Mom: What did you do?

Abby: I went to Abby's school!

Mom: What did you do at school?

Abby: I played outside, on the swings.

Mom: What else did you do at school?

Abby: We sat on the carpet, and played with helmets.

Mom: Wait...you played with helmets?

Abby: Yeah, we put them on.

Mom: Why did you put helmets on?

Abby: We played - "activities".

Mom: Mmmm, alright. Did you sit at your desk?

Abby: Yeah!

Mom: What did you do at your desk?

Abby: I colored pictures with Mrs. Currie and write your name. (She is still working on tenses)

Mom: What did you do with Mrs. Davis?

Abby: Read a "Twinkle Star" book.

Mom: Did you have fun?

Abby: Yes.

Mom: Do you want to go back tomorrow?

Abby: Yeah

Mom: What do you think you will do tomorrow?

Abby: Play. Play outside. Then go back home.

Mom: Do you like school?

Abby: Yeah! Yes, Mom!

Well, you can't ask for much more than that, now can you? I'd certainly say that the first day was a success.

How is it possible that she looks this old?