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…
Kai has such a soft, loving heart. The other day before bed he said to me, “Tomorrow, it will be your day of rest!” The next morning when I woke him up he made me sit on the couch while he made my coffee, he helped me make lunch, loaded the dishwasher, and overall kept me ‘resting’ as much as he could. He looked in my eyes at the end of the day and said, “Mom, you always do so much for us, I hope you enjoyed your day of rest.” Of course, my eyes teared up realizing that my sweet son had done all he could to bless me that day, and he recognized my daily hard work. Thank you Kai for my day of rest!
One of Kai’s greatest strengths is his ability to memorize. It is amazing how he can repeat something just a few times and he has got it down! From spelling, to Bible verses, to math facts, this is one smart boy!
He is loving his class, all of his classmates, and all the fun things that happen at school everyday! He has been working hard at home and at preschool for the past few years so that has made grade 1 an easy transition. He brings our family joy and fun with his silly ways.
“One of my highlights from my preschool is I like to eat breakfast at home and I like getting my snack ready. Some of my low lights are I get owies on my knees when I slip, and sometimes I have to play by myself and I don’t really like playing by myself. And another one of my highlights is just going to school. I like school.”
~Kai- Age 5
Mom- So Kai, what do you like best about being six?