One Lucky Mom
It's always the little things that stop me in my tracks.
Now, I don't pretend to be a perfect anything. In fact, I often screw up, and badly (just ask my family).
But confirmation that Mike and I have done the right thing, about adding Sadie and Jeffrey to our family, makes me want to do a little dance. There is something about watching my children become a family, bringing out the best in each other, and bonding, that is beyond cool.
A few weeks ago I came home to find that Mitch and Jeffrey had decided to share a bedroom. It might have had something to do with the fact that Mitch actually cleaned his room (a little) and showed Jeffrey that there was indeed an upper bunk under all those guitars. We had put off asking our boys to consider sharing their rooms, or making any other sacrifices, in order to keep the status quo. Turns out they took matters into their own hands, and worked it out for themselves. Because they wanted to.
How cool is that?
Mitch and Jeffrey are like two peas in a pod. Mitch has always wanted to be a big brother. I think he started asking for a little brother when he was about four. So having Jeff come along as his "little brother", is kind of perfect. He relishes the big brother, "I know better", role.
The other day Jeff was a bit stressed because he had some English homework. He was writing a short story, and Mitch was assisting him.
Now, Mitch is not my writer. He counts words. What I mean by that is, he looks at the requirements of the assignment, and counts the words until he is done "writing". It has less to do with quality, and everything to do with the "getting it done" using the required amount of words. Or at least that is how it has always seemed to me.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived home from work and heard Mitch telling Jeff:
"Dude, you cannot start every sentence in your story with I."
"These transitions suck, think of some other words you can use".
"Listen to this sentence, as he proceeds to read a run-on sentence that goes for half the page, it's way too long."
I had to stare. It might even have been an open mouthed stare. Who the heck are you and where is the real Mitch?
Apparently, although he has never welcomed or even acted like he has heard any of my suggestions about his own writing, he grasped enough to help Jeff. And weirdly enough, Jeff listens to Mitch.
There is a new meaning of the word brother around our house now, and that makes "all this" 100% worth it.
I am one lucky mom.