Wow. We learned a couple of things this morning before we even left the house. One kind of serious and one not so much.
Noah woke up early again (I despise falling 'back for DST) so he had to be sent back upstairs to get dressed while I got in the shower. While the water was heating up, I came out into the living room to see Noah still in his pajamas AND in his shoes. He was laying out his pants when I asked what he was doing. After he simply explained he was getting dressed with those patented looks at me like I have 3 heads-I asked how he was going to get his pants on over his shoes. With the same - go away Dad look - he told me he'd be just fine. We've had this conversation before and usually I insist he do it right but this time I decided to let him figure it out for himself.
I went ahead and got in the shower. I've always known this but the interchange with Noah really crystalized it for me. Parents can't teach their kids anything. We can only guide them, but they have to figure out on their own what we already know. Hopefully, we can control the lesson to be learned in a safe way.
In the shower, I thought of a scary moment in my life. A friend of mine and I were coming home from ElDorado on a weekend night. I was driving my mother's car and curfew was going to be a close thing. I hit the Thrill Hills of S Jackson going way too fast. I knew not to go that fast. I'd been told not to go that fast, but until that moment when all 4 tires left the ground, I didn't believe I shouldn't go that fast. Luckily we survived, but if chance had put a car in the oncoming lane we wouldn't have. I never drove like that again and I can still get chills thinking about it. Kid's have to make their own mistakes-we can only pray they learn some of them going down a hill on a deserted road on their bike.
When I emerged clean and dressed Noah was completely ready for school. I asked him how he got his pants over his shoes. He sheepishly whispered, "I had to take them off to get my pants on." I nodded to him and didn't say another word. I guess we both learned something.
***Oh yeah, the kid's looked awfully cute this morning so I took their picture. Noah wanted his stuffed penguin in the picture as well. That's when we learned Campbell DOES NOT like penguins.
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