I was out of commission as a parent to Coulson for a couple weeks after having Charlie.
I was there for hugs and kisses, but most of his care was given over to his father and grandmothers. Now that I've been back as primary caregiver, I've noticed a few changes. He now knows about lollipops, candy and dessert, wants to drink chocolate milk, recognizes Barney and a bunch of other PBS characters, insists on having the tags cut out of his shirts and can identify those ubiquitous golden arches as "Old McDonald's restaurant." (Well, this last one is actually my fault - they have really good sweet tea.) He also started preschool recently and has picked up some great new activities from his friends there, such as spitting and shoving.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming his dad or grandparents or preschool - their help was (and is) a God-send to help me recover and bond with Charlie. And it's helped me grow-up as a parent. I used to be able to control everything in Coulson's world and limit what he was exposed to. But that's not my job as a parent. My job is to prepare him to interact with the real world appropriately and with purpose. Now I get to teach him about moderation, self-control, choices and priorities.
And it hasn't all been bad things he's learned. He says please and thank you more. He told me that Moses "opened the waters" and asks a lot of questions about how God made everything. ("Did God make the cars? Did God make the plane fly?"). He offers to share his favorite foods with me sometimes.
As he gets older, I'll be able to control less and less of his world. I can only pray and trust God that I'm building a good foundation for him so he can confidently interact with the real world in a way that will bring glory to God and love to others around him.
It will be interesting to see how "moderation" and "self-control" play out with Halloween candynext week. I'm hoping he really gets into sharing with others!
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