I’m having trouble choosing just one thankful for today. I had one earlier, then another, now a third. It’s a tough problem to have, really.

{Patience} I am thankful that our mudroom is finally done. D.O.N.E. And beautiful! It has been a long road, but so worth it. I smile every time I open the door. Alan deserves a big round of applause.

DONE. Except… a few small details. We are going to get a vinyl quote to put on the wall in place of artwork, but we have to decide on a quote first. And I like the curtain fabric and I like the floor mat, but they don’t seem to like each other. One will have to be changed. Just little details. But otherwise DONE!

{Bravery} I am also thankful that I survived my first day of substitute teaching. Was it in the quiet library where I’ve been helping out for the past year? Or a nice classroom? Nope. It was PE! (formally known as gym class!) The teacher left two games, one for the older grades (3-5) and one for the younger grade (K-2). Both were fun, but neither held the kids attention for the whole period so for every class I found myself improvising for the second half of the period. I should have been better prepared, except I just got the phone call last night. The principal said, “I’m having trouble finding someone to substitute for the PE teacher.” That should have been my first clue! :) Seriously though, it was fun. Mostly. The younger grades were fun. The one older class I had was NO fun! They were loud and rude and didn’t listen at all to me. Guess when the principal decided to come in and check on things?! I felt like I was doing an awful job, but he later said I was handling them just fine. Eeek! I was happy to get the kindergarteners back again. Anyway, first day down. We’ll see what comes next.

{Patience and Bravery} My final thought comes from this evening. Eve and Lex were cracking walnuts to use the shells to make turtles. Just an ordinary day around here. I told them they could do so as long as they ate the walnuts as well. Both agreed. When it came time to clean up and get ready for dinner they both fussed about having to eat the walnuts. We’re talking 1/3 cup here for them to share. Pure torture, right? Eve fussed, but sat down and ate her share. Lex pitched a royal tantrum! Throwing things, crying, fighting. We don’t fight often anymore, but when we do it sucks! I told him he had to try one walnut because he promised me he would. I’ll spare you the gory details, but after awhile I got him settled down and we discussed things and he decided to give it a try. Just one tiny bite. He broke off a piece the size of a pencil eraser and basically scraped it across his teeth. Brave, huh? :) Then he announced that it doesn’t taste like anything! I told him to pop the whole piece in his mouth. He took a mouse bite, intrigued now because it still didn’t taste like anything. I thanked him for trying and as I was getting his dinner off the counter he popped the whole thing in his mouth. “Hey, I do kind of like them!” Thank you, thank you Sam-I-Am! He proceeded to eat the rest of the bowl! (only about 1/4c. but still!) In bed tonight he said that walnuts taste like sweet water and that he was going to have some more for snack tomorrow.

I hate fighting with him, but I’m always so pleased when I’m able to get him over his fear and he tries something new. He tried it because of our discussions, not the fight, but he didn’t come around to discussion until after a fight. He went to bed feeling so proud of himself for being brave and trying a new food. I feel bad for him that it takes so much bravery. I can understand though. I’m not much into trying new foods either!