Here’s some recent stories about my kid-o’s.
A Boy Has a Crush on Olivia:
We were at the pinewood derby the other night and Tyler Pierson, and little neighborhood boy in Olivia’s grade, was there. It has been reported to us over the years through other parents in the neighborhood (though certainly never by Olivia, who never seems to have a clue about social intricacies) that Tyler has had a crush on our Baby Sunshine.
We know the Pierson family, Stephanie is a great mom and friend in the neighborhood, Eliza, Tyler’s older sister, has babysat for us before, and Tyler’s dad is recently working with Wyatt on the High Council.
So when Tyler came up to Wyatt at the pinewood derby, Wyatt knew who he was by association.
He came up to Wyatt with a huge grin on his face and asked: “Is you’re daughter Olivia?” to which Wyatt confirmed.
And then he said “Your daughter is AMAZING!”
And Wyatt was both taken aback by Tyler’s boldness, and humored at his candor. He told Tyler “Yeah, I think so too. You keep that good attitude.”
And Tyler walked away grinning from ear to ear.
Calvin’s First Temple Dedication:
We had the opportunity to attend the Provo City Center temple dedication a few weeks ago at our Stake Center. It was also one of Wyatt’s first assignments in the High Council to set up and run the dedication in the building. Because of that we weren’t able to attend the dedication together. So I took Olivia and Calvin to one session, and Wyatt attended another session.
It was Calvin’s first temple dedication, and I told him about the special meeting he would be able to attend. We went, and Olivia and Calvin were great through the whole meeting.
Afterwards I asked Calvin what he thought of the experience.
“Well,” he said, “I sure did feel the spirit.”
In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he told me he wanted to go again, and elected on his own to attend again with his daddy later that day.
Everett Needs Lessons from Tyler Pierson:
I was putting the kids to bed last night, and was sitting in Everett’s room with him when he asked me:
“Mom, is it embarrassing to ask a girl on a date?”
And I tried to keep my cool and answered “No, I don’t think so. Why? Do you think it’s embarrassing?”
And Everett confessed his embarrassment at just the thought of it. “What if she’s really cute?” he asked.
I assured him that asking girls on a date was something he would learn how to do. I told him that he had ten whole years to learn about it before he would even need to try it, and by the time he got to that point he could learn to not worry about it.
“But isn’t it embarrassing when you have to watch someone kiss?” he asked.
“Not for me. Is it embarrassing for you?”
He said yes and then showed me how he covered his eyes when ever someone kissed.
I tried to assure him that he wouldn’t feel embarrassed when he was old enough for those feelings.
I don’t know if I fully resolved his concerns, but he seemed reassured that he had ten years before he needed to worry about it. Ai ai ai!
Andrew Wants to Do the Right Thing
Yesterday I went to get the Cinnamon rolls out of the oven. We were a few talks into the first Saturday Morning session of General Conference. Andrew followed me to the kitchen.
“Mom,” he said, “I don’t want to watch Conference anymore.”
“Okay,” I said. I imagined how much easier it would be to watch the session without him climbing, bouncing and playing on me. “You don’t have to watch anymore. You’ve already watched some.”
And then he worried, “Well, I don’t know. I do want to watch because I know it’s important.”
“Well, I’m proud of you for watching three talks.” I’ll be honest, I may have been trying just a little to convince him that he didn’t need to watch any more, so I could watch in peace.
“No, I’m going to watch the rest. I want to do the right thing.”
And so in he came and watched as best as his little four year old bundle of energized body would let him.
Little Boy Gruff!
Nathaniel has become a climber. About ten days ago he learned how to climb out of his crib. That’s earlier than any of his older siblings. Not only that, but he’s learned that he can climb onto just about anything. He can climb onto the table, up the tall chairs, even onto Everett’s bunkbed (and no, there’s no ladder. He just hefts himself up the side). I keep finding him in the middle of the night, asleep on the top bunk with Everett. We started calling him Gruff because he’s a little billy goat.