How Can A Mommy Say No?

Lizzy has returned to school and Ben has lost his best friend - or has he?

  Starting next week, I will begin teaching preschool again at the Treehouse. Ben himself will start preschool the first week of September and my church calling has been less demanding  the past couple of weeks but that will change soon. These three things, as well as my painful realization that this is my last year with Ben before he starts kindergarten, has given me incentive to forget the house work, forget the blogs, forget the email and give Ben my undivided attention.

Ben loves to put puzzles together. We tried to put together different puzzles each day.

A VAST majority of our time is spent in his room playing with his Geotrax train set. He loves to create new track configurations, play for a few minutes then tear it apart and start all over. He is pretty clever at this and he loves it. (Ben and Lizzy no longer share a room. Ben's room is currently being transformed into a Star Wars room - Ben and Troy are both excited about the possibilities!)

We practiced his swing - inside of course. It is much, much too hot outside! He is a pretty good hitter - now if his mommy could just be a better pitcher!

We also went swimming together several times - just the two of us. We read stories, played some computer games together, made cookies, he helped me with some organizing projects and he was even happy about doing some speech therapy with me each day.

I have loved my time alone with Ben. Yes, the dishes did scream my name all day and the laundry whined for some attention. But when I would stop to do these chores, I would hear Ben's little voice, "Mommy will you pay wif me please?" and then I would hear another voice, President Monson's voice, say:

"If you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly." "Finding Joy In The Journey"

He's going to grow up and teenage boys don't usually say, "Mommy will you pay wif me please?" Now is the time for me to form the bond I want to have with him forever. That bond doesn't form while I'm doing the dishes and he is watching a movie.

One night last week, while tucking Ben in bed I laid down beside him just to snuggle for a sec. He can be the sweetest, sweetest boy...he turned to me and said, "Mommy I wuv Mommy Ben days. Can we pay again tomorrow?" and then he kissed me on the nose.

How can a mommy say no to that?!