August 2010

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The other morning, after Squirts ate his breakfast, I set his clothes out and told him it was time to get dressed while I went to get ready for the day. About 30 minutes later, I returned to the living room and – Squirts was dressed. Shirt, underwear, shorts and socks! Hallelujah!

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t the first time that’s happened. But no matter how many times it does, I’m still haunted by the days we battled to get the boy dressed every day. Here’s how the playback of those days runs on the screen in my mind, backed by the flashing lights and music of the Little Einstein’s:

While the child is distracted by educational TV, we strategically lay out a clean set of clothes for easy reach; then with ninja-like agility, dad makes a sneak attack from behind sweeping the child from his feet and pinning him to the floor; mom swoops in and deftly removes the pajama bottoms with one hand while reaching for the clean underwear and pants with the other; with little more than a look, parents make a tag team reversal and mom pins the boy while dad quickly replaces the pajama top with a crisp, clean t-shirt; with a high-five and a “Hoo Ya” the child is dressed and released.

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Squirts likes to talk. He gets that from his mommy! Many of our friends and family have been participants in one of his chatty exchanges. I say “exchange,” but in truth the conversations are usually fairly one-sided. He talks. You listen. He gets that from his mommy too! (Just kidding! Really! Just kidding!)

I love to look up or walk into a room and see him holding court with another adult. The grown-up usually stands slightly bent at the waist, nodding vaguely, with eyebrows arched and a barely open mouth circled in surprise. If a thought bubble popped up over the adult’s head it would probably say, “Wow, this kid can talk!” or “When do I get to say something?” or “What happened to this kid’s mom and dad anyway?”

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There are very few things about which I can say with absolute certainty, “This is what God intended when…” or “This is what God was thinking when…” In fact, a lot of what I write on SoulSquirts is an exploration of what I think or believe I know about God or we can learn about God through our daily lives—especially through my experience with a certain four year old.

But if there is one thing of which I have always been convinced, it is this: God intended for human beings to conduct certain parts of our daily routine—our daily duties, if you get my drift—in complete and total privacy.

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Always anxious to show off some newly discovered skill or knowledge, Squirts noticed the digital clock at the front of the car. From the back, he pointed and said, “Daddy, it’s 10:51. I know that number. That 5 and 1 make 51! It’s 10:51.”

Always anxious to affirm his newly discovered skill or knowledge, I make the appropriate “oohs” and “ahhs” about how smart he must be to know it’s 10:51.

Never let it be said that my son doesn’t know how to milk a moment: He begins singing at full volume “10:51, 10:51, 10:51, 10:51,” his voice moving progressively up the musical scale which each utterance of the time.

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Bear