Cash Clan Japan

I just asked Claire if she would go beyond putting her dirty dishes from lunch in the sink and actually rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher. And you know what? She looked at me as if I’d asked her if she wanted some candy!! And then proceeded to proudly and happily do as I had asked. She’s been making her bed by herself for almost a year now, but maybe it’s time to up the anty…

This morning at breakfast, Adam looked at me serious as a heart attack and said,

“Mom, I’d really like to go ice skating with an elephant this summer.”

Weird on so many levels.

And then later today, we were watching a happy episode of “Jon & Kate + 8″ (which is my newest addiction and which, in my defense, started several months before all this current tabloid mess over them which is really devastating), where they were camping in their backyard, sleeping in tents, roasting marshmallows, making Smore, the whole shebang, and Adam says,

“We MUST go camping, Mom!”

We are so doing it in Oklahoma this summer! I cannot WAIT for wide open spaces, people! 14 days and we’ll be in the U.S. of A!!!! Get ready for us (in all our quirky glory!)

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” –Elizabeth Stone

To me, that is precisely what it feels like to be a mother.

When Claire won the talent show a couple weeks ago, the joy I felt went so far beyond anything I’ve ever felt at one of my own triumphs. And when she was ostracized by a mean girl a couple years ago at yochien, my fury was white hot. (My heartbeat quickened just now, even at the memory!)

When Adam’s eyes fill with tears and his lip quivers when he knows he’s done something wrong, the compassion it provokes is palpable. And when he chirps out something witty (as he so often does), the pride I feel over him makes me laugh out loud.

When Benjamin gets scolded and comes to me and says, “I’m sad,” my heart feels like it cracks just a little. But when he slows down for a few minutes to give me a rare snuggle, the warmth I feel is a balm for all my little heartaches.

And when little Sam looks at me and grins, milk trickling out of the corner of his mouth, joy tickles up from my tummy.

Being a mom is the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced. I thank God every single night that I get to be the mother of these precious children. I love them so much it hurts.

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there I love, especially mine.

P.S. Speaking of Mother’s Day, my sweet  girl made me a color-illustrated, alphabetized! tribute, which I will keep forever and ever.

Among my favorites were:

My mom makes the best Dinner. (I must say I do! Last night was a delectable seafood curry.)

My mom Laughs a lot. (I’m so glad she notices this. I hope I never stop that, even in seasons of melancholy, like the one I’m in this month…)

My mom makes good Tea. (Moms with young daughters, you MUST buy THIS book! She begs me every single day of the week to do a page from it together…)

My mom gives me eXtra ice cream. (Really I don’t, but if she thinks so, that’s a sweet, harmless delusion I’ll not correct.)

My mom helps me do my Zipper. (My favorite!)

Though Adam is usually the one who makes us all laugh, tonight it was Claire who provided the entertainment. She wasn’t even trying to be funny, but she said several things that put us all in stitches. It was a very fun night at the dinner table. When I asked her tonight if there was anything in particular she’d like me to pray about for her, she requested that I ask the Lord if tomorrow night dinner could be that much fun. Oh my GOSH, I love this girl. So here were the funny things she said at dinner, in chronological order, and coincidentally, each one a little funnier than the last:

1) Adam was giving us an anatomy lesson and making us all show where our hearts were. And she announced randomly, “My heart’s right here. I know because this one time I could FEEL my heart beating on the playground.”

2)  I complimented Adam on eating his dinner quickly and efficiently, and he put his proud face on. And Claire defended her honor, “It doesn’t matter who’s the fastest in a family. It matters who loves each other.” I mean, who’s gonna argue with that?

3) Keith was reiterating an earlier lesson to Claire, that she can’t call girls “dude” because it’s masculine (which I totally disagreed with. I’m pretty sure my friend Starr and I refer to each other as dude fairly frequently. Yes, we’re 31 years old. Okay, so anyway…). And guess what? Then he gave her a pop quiz. So what do you call girls instead, hoping to elicit the response dudette, which is retarded in my opinion, but again, anyway… Claire answered, “Doodie?” (In our family, that’s one of many colorful words we have for poo. Yours too?)

4) And finally, my favorite. Today was World Culture Day at Shirley Lanham Elementary School and they had some amazing Japanese Taiko Drummers kick off their morning. I asked her to tell me about it, and she said, “My fingernails were vibrating, Mom!”  And after I finished laughing at that, I promptly excused myself from the dinner table to go take notes for this blog post.

There’s nothing quite like laughing your head off with your kids, is there?

This morning as I savored my first sip of coffee, Adam proclaimed to me,

“Mom, I don’t like coffee now, cuz I’m just 5. But when I’m 74, I’ll like it.”

Almost spit out my first sip.