Pull my finger!

I wake up this morning, 45 minutes late, and try to get my day started. As usual I crawl out of bed, grab my phone, put worship music on and click the power button on the Keurig and I wait. Once the water is hot I get my very yummy much anticipated Vanilla Creme coffee with sweet italian creme drizzled in it. MMMMhhmmm so good...

Ok my time is now over! Let's get this day started! I rush into the shower, pull my hair back, throw on whatever clothes I can find clean and start to apply what I can of my makeup when my son walks up to me with the most urgent, I-need-you-to-notice-me look on his face. He apparently was up long before I was. With so much joy in his eyes he says to me "good morning beautiful mommy that I love so much. I cleaned the house for you and...." JUST KIDDING He didn't say that, he said "PULL MY FINGER, HURRY JUST DO IT". Ok so here is where my moment came in. In 2.5 seconds I could have crushed his dreams by saying something like "Jack, I don't have time to pull your finger! Besides I know that when I do, you're going to fart and it's going to stink and I'm going to gag and run out of the bathroom and then not have time to finish my makeup and get to work. Besides, that's the oldest joke in the book. I did that to my dad when I was little...." and then it hit me; this young boy is just the age that I was when I was introduced to this new joke that all my friends were doing. (Yes I was that little girl that played in the dirt more than with dolls and my daddy loved it!) I thought my friends created that awesome joke that nobody else knew about in the world. I couldn't wait to go home and have someone in my family pull my finger so I could trick them and you know what?? Nobody knew about that joke in my house! I got all 4 family members with it!! WOOOHOOO! I got em.

But what would have happened if one of my brothers or my mom and dad said "It's old Jodi, I'm not doing that". Would it have set my life for failure?? No not quite but it would have crushed what little dream I had of showing my family something new. It would have made me question the next new thing that I learned and showing it to my family. I would have walked away thinking they didn't have time for me.

So when Jack rushed up to me and said for the first time ever "Pull my finger, hurry just do it" I pulled and I laughed as his little body released what we all know was coming. And he clapped his hands and laughed as he walked away because he knew he got me. I kept my all knowing comments to myself about this trick being so old and knowing what was coming and Thank the Lord it didn't smell because I had to stay in the bathroom and finish my face so I didn't alarm anyone in the office with my appearance. :)

I know this story is probably TMI but it's who I am and I'm real and I learned a lesson this morning. I, along with my husband, are the ones who can influence and change our son positively. We can crush or grow his dreams. We can help or hurt so many of his life decisions. So I'm so glad that today I helped him believe that he "got me", that he created that joke in our house and I will always pull my lil man's finger any time he asks :)

Stay tuned for when I highlight the most special, important young lady in my life..my first born, my daughter Shaylee.....She's up next!