Oops! He Did it Again!

I got to take Seth, Lydia, and their cousin Joshua to McDonald's and for ice cream at a local place called Rita's on Sunday. Let me just tell you that mango italian ice with vanilla custard is delightful. Rita calls this "gelati," and I am a fan! More than that, it was delightful to hang out with the kids (Seth and Lydia are Kylee and Matt's five year old twins, and Joshua is their cousin). I love their energy, enthusiasm, and creative imaginations.

After bath time, I followed them into their room to aid in the getting dressed process (more so for 2.5 year old Sarai). Seth turned to me as he was pulling on some pajamas and asked, "Do you remember what I told you, Joanne?" "Oh, no," I thought, "I hope he isn't going to say anything about wanting me to marry his dad." Out loud I responded, "I'm not sure." "I want you to marry Daddy. Do you remember that I told you that?" he inquired. "Yes. I remember," I replied. "He's really nice, and so are you," Seth explained. Conversation followed during which we discussed how I was and wasn't like Kylee, with Seth asserting that I was and Lydia that I wasn't. Thankfully, it was brief and hair brushing and pajama changing took precedent shortly.

Later that night, I told Matt about what happened and also about the time Seth expressed the same sentiment on the playground a few weeks ago. "Yeah, I know," Matt chuckled, "He told me about it later that day." Matt went on to explain a conversation he'd had with the kids a few hours before I saw them that day on the playground. Seth had climbed in the family van and was talking about how they had enough seats for everyone, pointing out one for Lydia, one for Sarah, one for Caleb, Matt, and their next baby. Matt explained that they couldn't have another baby without Mommy being here.

They went on to discuss foster care (a family friend has foster children) and adoption. Matt asked if they could think of any other ways to get a baby. The kids were out of ideas, so he introduced the topic of getting remarried, having a new mommy. "Would that be weird?" he asked them. They replied that it wouldn't. He went on to ask them if they had any suggestions... Right away, Seth said, "Joanne, because she's really nice, and she loves us a lot." Because I'd been sick for a while, I hadn't only seen Seth once probably during the month before he made that comment, which added to the weight of the compliment. He knew. He really got that I'm crazy about him, about all of those kids. What an honor to have a child pick you to be his mom out of all the people he knows in the world. It makes me want to smile and weep at the same time. I think Kylee would have smiled, though. She was always telling me stories about how much her kids love me, about how they know I'm crazy about them, how my name comes up at interesting and often humorous times. If you are reading this post, I urge you to e-mail me your physical address so I can send you my next paper newsletter, which is a tribute to Kylee and the impact that she's had on my life. She was an amazing woman. I am honored to be a part of her children's lives.