Him Puts You on the Naughty List

This morning, all before 8:30 am.

“Mimi, I can’t find my shoe,” Peyton, 6 years old, tells me, moaning, while standing in the dining room twirling the one shoe she does have round and round by the shoe laces. A perfect example of gravity if I ever saw one.

“Keep looking, Peyton. It has to be somewhere,” I answered, right before I walked into her bedroom to see the elusive shoe sitting all by itself, minding its own business on the top of her bed.

Brooklyn, 9 years old, just had to have my cell phone,”I swear I won’t play games, Grandma. I’m ready for school, like you said. I need to use the calculator.”

“What do you need to calculate?” I asked.

“What’s half of fifteen?” she said.

Oh, man, I thought, turning my head so she wouldn’t see my laughing face. “Oh, let’s see — seven and a half.”

She sighed loudly and gave up on the phone idea.

Driving to school a bit later, we saw three deer grazing leisurely on the lawn at the intersection of Coombsville Road and 4th Avenue.

The car burst with exclamations.

“Deer!! Deer!! Deer!! Mimi, Grandma!! See the deer??!!”

Yep.

After I dropped his sisters off at school, 3 1/2 year old Micah and I drove past the deer in the grass again.

“Deer! Mimi, see the deer?”

“I do, that’s so cool, Micah.”

“That’s Santa’s house,” he told me, very seriously, “Really, it’s Santa’s house, with  reindeer.”

Laughing inside, I asked him if he was sure.

“Yes, if you’re bad, him puts you on the naughty list.”

“He does?” I responded, eyeing him in the rearview mirror.

“Yes. And if you’re good, him gets you on the good list.”

“Yes, you’re right. He sure does.”

A few minutes later, still in the car, he announces, “Mimi, last time I called you Mom.”

Evidently letting me know he called me by the wrong name, and he really does know the difference.

Still in the car…

“Jyles’ mom says I look like my dad,” he said, giggling, “I look like my dad?!”

I can just imagine him thinking about how his dad really looks – to him – and how in the world can he look like that?

OMG.

The rewards I bank for being able to hang out with grandkids every day of the week.