September 2: Hang Onto Things, Kids, Prayer for a Big Boy

Mothers for miles around worried about Zuckerman's swing.  They feared some child would fall off.  But no child ever did.  Children almost always hang onto things tighter than their parents think they will.

E. B. White is talking about a rope in a barn.  A really long rope that swings really, really high without any kind of safety precautions.  You know, the kind of things kids love to do, and the kind of thing that parents have nightmares about.  Sort of like seeing your toddler son on the curb of a busy city intersection and not being able to stop him from stepping into traffic.

I put my kids on the bus this morning for their first day of school.  My daughter is a pro.  An eighth grader, full of confidence.  She knows the game.  My five-year-old son, on the other hand, had a rough kindergarten year.  Lots of visits with the principal.  Lots of talks with the school counselor.  It was a long year.

I have to say that I was a little anxious all day.  When I came home this evening, the first thing I did was look at my phone to see if there was a voice mail waiting for me.  There was no voice mail.  When I talked to my son a little later, I told him how happy I was that he behaved himself.  He looked at me and said, "I'm in first grade.  I'm a big boy now."

Kids constantly surprise parents.  As E. B. White writes, they hang onto things tighter than their parents think they will.  Today, my son did just that.

My prayer for this week is that my son keeps holding on.  Tight.  That he remembers he's a big boy now.

Saint Marty is so proud of his son.

Not this kind of big boy...