entertainment is...conversations with chase

so today was one of those days when you ask yourself repeatedly, "why am i doing this?"

all 3 kids are having valentine's parties at school. yesterday, i shopped for all of the valentines, and the party supplies that i was assigned for each class, as well as their valentine's gifts. chase also has to make a valentine mailbox out of a box for all of his valentines to be stored in. so, today i went out and got some cute valentine wrapping paper, ribbon, some little metal words to glue on it, and a candy frog that says "kiss me." i thought he would LOVE that...his obsession with frogs and all. so, after i picked them up from school, we drove to my parent's house to pick up aiden. the traffic was bad enough that i didn't want to head straight back home and we decided to hang out there a while. i got all the stuff out to make chase's box and asked him if he wanted to help. he said, "sure" but then got a bit distracted with the other kids playing in the yard. now, i kid you not when i say that i spent a solid hour or more working on this box. taping it up...cutting a hole in the top...wrapping it...decorating it with ribbon...gluing...taping...making bows...figuring out how to get the frog to look like it was sitting on it...hot glue...you can see that i was doing my best work for my best chase. my mom sat with me and helped and talked until i finished it. i finished it off by writing "chase...you've got mail!" then i called him in to see this mailbox creation that i had made in an attempt to make him feel special and loved. he walked in...looked at the box...and said, "i don't love it."

a little later, while ignoring a melt down in the car on the way to grab dinner with my parents, he proceeded to say some "ugly" things. i told him that he needed to stop being ugly, and to only let the kind words come out of his mouth. i told him that he was hurting my feelings with his words. i explained to him that what we say can really hurt people and that i had worked really hard on his box and that he owed me an apology and a thank you. i told him that i would take the box to his class and give it to a kid who didn't get to make a box. he then gave the most sincere...sweet...heartfelt apology. here is how it went...

"mommy...i am sooooo sorry. i am so soooorrrry mommy...mommy i am sor HEY, MOMMY...LOOK...AN ASTRONAUT...LOOK AT THAT SIGN MOMMY!"

then my mom began a little bible lesson about the crowns we get in heaven...saying that while we are on earth, we have to say good and nice things...not mean things. and that we had to treat people with kindness and tell people about Jesus in order to get our crowns when we get to heaven. chase's response was..."i don't really want to go there."

then, colton and mom and i started talking about salvation and i asked chase why Jesus died on the cross. colton, wanting to help a brother out whispered, "for our sins." chase then proudly said, "for our cents." then i said, do you know what sin is?" colton, again to not be out done whispers, "bad stuff." chase said loudly, "bad stuff." i said, "yeah...like talking ugly to your mommy." at that, he said, "mommy...i'm just so tired...i think i need to go to sleep now."