I was tucking Kai into bed last night and he said to me before falling asleep, “Mom, you know…love is the best” Then he went on to tell me how he loves that we love each other and it feels so good. Then he said, really, I mean our whole family loves each other… about 50% of the time, the other 50% is the opposite. It made me smile how an 8 year old has such insight. Love is really one of the things in this world that God made to point us to the fact that there is more to life than strictly matter.
I also laughed because it is true, it feels like we fight a lot at times (apparently 50% of the time according to Kai). At a typical dinner you will hear the kids say to each other: “Jay don’t look at me like that.” “Cassie, why do you have to be so rude?” “Kai, just eat your food, stop complaining!” Ben and I break in with things like, “Okay guys, let’s go around the table and say something kind to the person next to us.”
Oh the battle! But it is also important to remember, the constant refrain of “Do this….no not this….” by us as mom and dad is the task of the parent to help children learn. It takes 18 years to make an adult, so here is hoping that after 18 years, Kai will be able to say, we love each other about 95% of the time…
