Like A Fox

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First of all - My congratulations to the winners of the GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Shelly Kurtzhals from "I Like The Way You Do" won the "Life As We Know It" DVD and Laura Bignell from "The Bignells" won the Soundtrack! Congratulations, girls!
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It's funny how two children can be so different.  He is quiet and introspective, she is outgoing and willing to bare her soul.

Much like their parents, I'm afraid. He mirrors his father, she her mother. Their father is the most wonderful father when it comes to planning adventures for us - as you can tell by this picture of our last vacation. He is so thoughtful in planning out every detail. (I can't wait to go to Yellowstone and Custer National Park this year!) I provide the food, fun activities and plenty of enthusiasm!
One thing that I feel it is my duty to do as a stay at home parent is to manage my home. I remember doing a study on the "wife of noble character" in Proverbs 31 - who wasn't exactly a SAHM, because she did have a job outside the home making garments and selling them to the merchants, but she made it her duty to "watch over the affairs of her household." I try very hard to do the same thing. That means that it is MY business to know MY CHILDREN'S business.
This is where it gets tricky. It's easy knowing Bridgette's business. Just ask her how her day was. You will hear 2 hour's worth of play-by-play description of what happened...who said what...who wore what...who smelled like what...you get the picture. She will not leave out a DETAIL. You will know more than you WANT TO KNOW. (Kind of like this blog post...I guess you know where she gets it from...)
Then there's Aaron...he may come in with one arm missing and not mention it. Ever.
That's where my "watching over the affairs of my household" has to become like an episode of C.S.I. I need to become clever. Like a fox, folks. Like a fox.
This is why I treasure this year.
This year Bridgette is in Middle School. Aaron is in High School. They go to different schools - and are in different church youth groups. They meet in the same building, but go at different times. So, on Wednesdays I drop Bridgette off at youth group at 5:00 and then when I pick her up at 7:00 I drop Aaron off. On the way home I ask her how youth group went. She tells me what they talked about in the sermon, what they talked about in small groups...and then all the other details...blah, blah, blah...This is where I get smart. You see, Aaron's group will have the SAME SERMON! Aaron seldom will talk about serious things with anyone - but sometimes with me. And, especially if I know how to strategically phrase certain questions - without him knowing that I know what his sermon was about - so that he'll think he's telling me something I don't know...
Yeah, it's sneaky.
Like a fox.
And it seems to be working.
So, that's how we have been having serious discussions about life.
Many Wednesday nights.
Not EVERY Wednesday.
But many.
And, for a mom and a Freshman son...well, that's good enough for me!