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Preparations for picking up the kids from school have developed into a pattern. This pattern is not set by me, however, it is set by a five year old child.

One hot day this fall, I made a cup of ice water and put in the car for Zeke to drink once I picked him up. I had also brought a small baggie of snacks. Zeke appreciated this, but was unhappy the next day when his water and snacks were not there. “You forgot my water, Mommy,” he remarked as soon as he got into the van. Everyday, henceforth, the pattern for school pickup must include a glass of water.

Zeke returns with me to school later each day to pick up his brother and sister. Before we depart, Zeke finds a toy or game to keep himself occupied while we wait in line.

On Wednesday, I told him it was time to find his toy so we could depart. After a minute with no response, I walked into our office to find him playing with the little ceramic heater, turning it off and on; warm to hot. He looked up and said, “I’m playing with this a few more minutes.”

I then began to talk to him (Abby would term it lecture) about obedience. I said, “Zeke, remember how you and I talked yesterday about obeying right away and not obeying slowly because that is disobeying to go slowly on purpose.”

He replied, “Do you write it down?… The things that you say?… I don’t write it down.”

By Mugs Manry

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”

Acts 4:32 (NIV)

The sight of a large truck being loaded with household items will elicit the following prayer from me, “Lord, thank You that this truck is not parked at my house.” Our family has moved many times because of my husband’s military career. After each move, there is a tremendous push to put things away. Inevitably, I run out of energy and cannot face another decision on where something should go. Therefore, piles of items remain in various rooms to trip over or maneuver around as we settle into a new place.

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Dale loves to run. I do not love to run.

Zeke once listed our family by order of speed. “Josiah is fastest. Daddy is second. Zeke is third. Abby is fourth. Gabe is fifth. Mommy is last, ” he informed us all. When his two older siblings objected to being slower than him, he reluctantly rearranged the order. “Josiah is fastest. Daddy is second. Abby is third. Gabe is fourth. Zeke is fifth. Mommy is still last,” he said.

Admittedly, my last place position is warranted. Josiah has taken after his father and loves to run. Abby and Gabe have taken after me and run when they must. Zeke has been a bit of a tossup since he loves to run, but also loves to stop.

After watching Josiah run throughout the Cross Country season, Zeke declared he wanted to enter a race. So, Dale entered himself  and Josiah into the 5k Turkey Trot and Zeke into the 1 mile kid’s Turkey Trot in Fredericksburg on Thanksgiving morning.

Zeke lined up for the race with boys and girls 6 and under alongside his two handlers Dale and Josiah. The pistol fired and he took off at a sprint. It took Dale and Josiah two blocks to catch up with him. I saw Zeke pass the 1 mile mark with a look of pain and agony on his face, he was running hard.

Zeke Running with Josiah

He finished with a time of 10:45, 61 out of 145. All runners who finished received a medal. He was proud of himself.

Zeke's Finishing Sprint

Then “the losing someone in a crowd drama” occurred when Dale, Josiah, and Zeke  walked one way and I walked another. I lost them in the crowd of 2415 5k runners and their families. I was wearing a bright red jacket and hoped that if I stood in the middle of the road intersection ahead of the start, they would see me. They were on the top of the steps of the library in the hopes that I would see them.

I had both my and Dale’s cell phones and with the 5k race fast approaching, I prayed quite a few frantic prayers and asked various people I knew if they had seen them. Losing someone in a crowd is quite unsettling. Thankfully, they saw me and Zeke did not have to run the 5k.

The first runners to finish were two Kenyan runners from Chapel Hill, NC. They finished together at 14:35. It was amazing to watch the sprint to the finish. I saw Josiah just after 20 minutes. The guy next to him said, “Come on little man,” and started to sprint. I think he was a bit surprised when Josiah out sprinted him as well as the guy in front of him to finish at 20:11 (99 out of 2415).

Dale’s training this autumn had been a bit lackluster compared to Josiah’s. He finished at 24:17 (387 out of 2415 runners). This time I stayed where I was and let Dale find me. They all ate their bagels and cookies, drank their water and gatorade and got their turkey t-shirts.

The Happy Finishers

When we got home, Zeke was complaining to Gabe that he hadn’t gotten to do anything fun yet. Gabe replied, “What? You just got to run a race. That’s fun!” Zeke answered, “Running a race isn’t fun.”

So, the child remains an even division between Dale and I. He wants to run the race like Dale, but he sure doesn’t consider it fun. A bit of his mother in him there.

The children had a four day weekend last weekend while their teachers attended training. Three of them love sleeping in and enjoyed the lazy mornings. Gabe, however, likes waking up at the same time every day.

Before bedtime, I had informed them all that they could sleep in until 10. However, once they got out of bed, they had to take care of their chores and responsibilities before watching TV or playing Wii/DS.

I was surprised when I woke up that Gabe had not gotten out of bed at his usual early hour. I remarked about his sleeping in. He responded, “I woke up at the regular time, but you said if we got out of bed, we had to do our chores. So, I didn’t get out of bed.”

His logic and ability to find loopholes is quite astounding to me.

Zeke, my true night owl, has tired of his relentless early morning Kindergarten routine. He will not wake up fully when I call him, so I carry him downstairs to the table while he is half awake. He rests his head on the table and complains that it “hurts my eyes” in a whiny voice.

The other day as I picked him up to carry him down the stairs, he asked, with his eyes still closed, “Why do we have to do this every morning?”

Patches and her Prey

Zeke caught a cricket and caterpillar and housed them in Gabe’s bug catcher. Patches was most grateful for her new live action toys.