Thursday, January 08, 2009

Man, I Love That Kid

My son keeps amazing me. No, he's not perfect (he's got a long way to go on cleaning his room properly, for starters), but in the things that really count, he's becoming a young man I'm in awe of.

Two examples have jumped out at me recently.

The first was over Christmas break, when the family was visiting grandparents a good hour or so north. On Saturday night, my son and his grandpa went to a hockey game that was roughly halfway between our two homes.

While they were gone, we got a call about a sister-in-law in the ER who needed minor but immediate surgery at the hospital close to our house. Long story short, we spent time on the phone trying to find a place for their baby to go overnight and otherwise arrange for things at home.

We contacted my FIL at the game. Since they were only half an hour away, he and our son left the game early for the hospital to give support. We told them to stay at our house that night instead of facing icy roads to come back, since it would be well after midnight by the time everything at the hospital settled down. The surgery turned out fine, and afterward they crashed at our place.

The following day, Sunday, as I packed up the kids' stuff so we could head home, I wasn't sure whether my son had taken a certain Christmas gift with him to the hockey game or whether I should keep looking for it in Grandma's basement. I called our house, and my FIL answered.

"I'm pretty sure he brought it with him," he told me. When I asked to speak with my son to confirm, he said, "Oh, he's not here right now. He went to church."

My jaw hung slack. Um, he what?

Yep. On his own, without any family around, my son not only didn't sleep in, but figured it was still his duty to go to church. At 9 AM. So he did. I had neighbors a bit confused when they saw him passing the sacrament because they knew the rest of us were out of town.

What kind of kid does that?!

Second story:

We live in a cul de sac on a hill in a city that doesn't believe that cul de sacs need snow plows. Let's say that the past couple of weeks with tons of snow and ice have been interesting on our street.

As I drove in the other day on the way home from school, we noticed our neighbor's minivan spinning its wheels at the very top of the hill. A couple of kids and a neighbor lady were trying to help push, but it wasn't working.

My son nearly jumped out of the moving car to help. I had to yell at him to not get out yet or he'd kill himself. Plus, there's a strategy involved in getting up our driveway when there's lots of snow, and you cannot stop midway; you have to keep moving slow and steady if you don't want to get stuck.

He chomped at the bit until I reached the garage . . . and still nearly jumped out of the moving vehicle. He ran down the driveway to the stuck neighbor, calling, "Need some help?"

Ten minutes later, he came in the house, rosy-cheeked. The minivan was on its way, and he'd done his part.

I almost cried.

As much as I'd like to, I can't take credit for the way he's turning out. He arrived this way. He's ten kinds of awesome. Can't wait to see what kind of adult he'll make.

On second thought, I can wait. He became a teenager too fast for my liking. I'll be good if time slows down just a tad.

But he'll be an awesome man. I just know it.

26 comments:

Kristina P. said...

What an amazing testimony to him, and your job as a mother!

Erin said...

I second Kristina! What a great kid, and a mom who raised him!

Lara Neves said...

He may have come that way, but you most certainly helped him to develop the goodness he already had. What a wonderful kid!

Rebecca Irvine said...

The world needs more young men like him! What a great kid.

Rebecca Blevins said...

Moms always have an influence. He's a wonderful boy, and you can take a little credit for that!

If I had a daughter who was much older than three I'd be wanting her to meet him in a few years! Preferably AFTER a mission. :D There aren't a whole lot of boys like him around.

Brittany Marie said...

Wow, he is amazing!

PS: Do you know of any Utah city that thinks cul-de-sacs are in need of a snow plow?

Alison Wonderland said...

Way to go mom! And don't say you had nothing to do with it. Even if that's true I'm counting on taking all the credit if by some miracle my boys don't turn out to be serial killers and your saying that and kid "just came that way" interferes with the idea that I'm trying to convince others of. (Although I guess it could come in handy in the very likely event that my boys do all become serial killers.)

Annette Lyon said...

Fine. Alison's comment convinced me. I'm the best mom in the world!

Hahahahaaaa!

Okay, back to reality now . . .

I like to hope I've had a good influence on him. But I'm so not taking credit for the C he has in science.

LisAway said...

Oh, the C's definitely not your fault!

I just got off the phone with my mom and she was sharing all sorts of awesome experiences from when we were kids and I'm just loving kid stories right now, so I got all teary reading these. Awesome. I think this is one of those things that bring real joy, and not just happiness or pleasure.

Cheryl said...

You've got such a great kid! For some reason, it feels so much better when my sons behave, rather than my girls. Maybe it's because I know my girls are listening? And they do the right thing frequently? But with my boys I'm not so sure they are listening? Can you tell I'm really conflicted and can't stop querying (is that a word?) about this? Will the question marks ever stop?
Yeah, anyway...
You can take SOME credit, you know. At least for Alison's sake, I guess. :)

Melanie Jacobson said...

That has to be the best feeling!

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

You might say he came that way, but at the very least you can say you didn't wreck him. And there's a cue for some parental pride!

Stephanie Black said...

What an awesome kid! (And he has an awesome mom).

Heather of the EO said...

I love what Kimberly said. I second that. :)

An Ordinary Mom said...

It's obvious he has been raised well. Maybe his goodness can rub off on my son :) !!

SUPPORT said...

Awesome!

Heidi said...

That's so sweet! My nearly 14 year old daughter will be available in 7 or 8 years (she wants to go on a mission). I think Mary Lyon sounds very nice. The word verifier says chick. No lyon.

Cynthia said...

You are turning out a quality young man. I know I'd be bustin' my buttons too if my boy did those things.

Secondly, we must live in the same town because my cul-de-sac is a mess! Usually one of the neighbors with a 4-wheeler and plow attachment comes by to help but not last time. Fortunately, our cul-de-sac is at the top of the hill and the neighborhood slopes down from there so we don't have to deal with the hill. I did get stuck coming out of my neighbor's driveway the other day though- too bad your boy wasn't around!

Jami said...

Isn't that a wonderful feeling? What a good kid!

Marcia Mickelson said...

Wow, what a great kid. Lucky you.

tanyaa said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Brooke said...

He sounds like a fabulous kid. Really great.

Luisa Perkins said...

I'm all misty! How lovely.

Little GrumpyAngel said...

You are very blessed to have such a son. I believe you have a lot to do with it. He was nurtured at your knees and I'm sure much of his light is a reflection of yours.

Anonymous said...

What a great son!

When we were in northern Utah, our street got cleared, but it made a mess of our driveway! My dh snowplowed for a private company and he would always plow out ours and our neighbors' driveways.

Anna Maria Junus said...

I think teenagers can be pretty awesome. Too bad they get such a bad rap. Yours sounds like one of the awesome ones.

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