No comment on the misspelled last name.(He and I have been over it many times.)

As I began reading the writing journal, which contains tiny gems in both pictures and phonetically-spelled words, I said, “Awwwwwww…” out loud when I got to this one:

My translation: The most important manners is always be kind. Being kind is nice. It is fun too. I like being kind.

What elicited the “Awwwwww…” from me was the picture, in which Logan drew himself opening a door for other people and saying, “Ladies go first.”

“What?” said Logan, who was sitting across from me, doing his homework and heard my sigh.

“That’s so gentlemanly of you,” I said, showing him the picture.

“Aw, Mom, you’re making me dashful,” he said.

“Dashful?” I echoed.

“Yeah, you know, when you’re embarrassed? You’re dashful,” he explained.

“Oh, you mean BASHFUL,” I corrected.

“Yeah, DASHFUL,” he nodded.

Roughly an hour and a half later (yeah, I know, I’m not the most speedy shopper), as we dragged our tired selves over to the shoe section to find skids for the four of them for activity period, the boys had asked me a thousand times if we were done yet.

“Not yet,” I answered mechanically, also for the thousandth time, wishing I could somehow magically transport us all back home without having to actually drive the 40-minute trip. “We still have to get shoes.”

A tedious task at the best of times, finding shoes that each child would like when they were already cranky didn’t seem like a fun prospect at all. Our small town is notorious for having fairly small selections in terms of style, and even smaller selections for size. Unless a person doesn’t mind stopping at every store in town with four tired kids in tow, one must reconcile herself with the choices put in front of her.

The girls’ shoe hunt went fine. They were flexible with their selections and their size, finally the same as mine, was easy to find.

Phew.

So we traipsed over to the boys’ section and located the Spider-Man shoes. (If I haven’t mentioned it before, Cody is absolutely obsessed with Spider-Man and has been since he was about 3. Needless to say, Logan shares the fondness, though not nearly to the same extent as Cody.) I found a pair for Logan.

Perfect.

But there were no Spider-Man shoes available in Cody’s size.

“Shoot, Cody, I guess you’re going to have to pick something else,” I told him.

Before Cody could protest, Logan piped up in his helium-infused, 2-year-old-sounding voice:

“Cody, that’s OK. I won’t get Spider-Man shoes either since you can’t, because that wouldn’t be faaaaaaiiiiiiirrrrrrrr,” he said, drawing out the last word like he does when he’s intent on making a point.

And he didn’t. They each picked out Iron-Man shoes instead.

When I related this story to the kids’ uncle the next day, echoing my thoughts, he said, “You just can’t teach that, can you? They either have it, or they don’t.”

I’m so proud that Logan has it.

How have your kids impressed you with their innate personality traits? What do you admire the most about your child/ren?

I have managed to find my imprint on Andie in the form of her finger- and toenails. That, her openness and her need for companionship are about all the two of us share. Andie’s driven, scheduled, ambitious, worried, a true Type-A.

Cody, on the other hand, inherited no physical traits from me, except for maybe his big eyes. Like me, though, he’s a voracious reader and yesterday, he said something that I identify with strongly.

I don’t get a lot of opportunity for one-on-one time with my kids, so yesterday was fun because I got to spend hours with just Cody, who does not ever stop talking, unless he’s asleep.

“Mom,” he said, as yet another thought occurred to him. “You know how it feels when a big word comes out and it just feels so GOOD to say it?”

“Yes, I do,” I said, practically overcome at this verbalization of something I’ve always felt myself, but never heard anyone say.

“Like ‘Louisiana’ and ‘tough,” he continued. “Those words sound so good.”

Definitely my child.

Sniff.

In what subtle (or even obvious) ways have you seen yourself in your kids?

“What is it?” I asked.

He covered his mouth with his hands in that shy, embarrassed way he does, and glanced at his sisters, sitting nearby. Then he leaned over and whispered, “I have a crush on you.”

“You do?” I said, genuinely surprised.

“Yes. I just love you SO much!” he said, wriggling his skinny little body in semi-repressed exuberance. “That’s what a crush means. It means you love someone a lot.”

A few minutes later, Logan announced the news to Cody: “I told Mom I have a crush on her.”

“Ew,” said Cody promptly, better understanding both the definition and inappropriateness of having a crush on one’s mother.

Somehow I don’t think this crush will be lasting much longer.

1.  Italy. The history, the landscape, the scenery, the food… it has always been at the top of my list, but ever since I saw “Under the Tuscan Sun,” I’m even more anxious to get there.

2.  Greece. Pretty much for the same reasons as Italy.

3.  Scotland. Two of my favorite books are set there and after reading all the descriptions, I want to go there badly.

4.  Britain. Many of my ancestors hail from the homeland of William and Kate, so I’d love to see where I come from. Plus, one thing on my bucket list is to tour at least one historical castle, and it’s a good place to do that.

5.  Australia. I’ve just always wanted to go there.

How about you? Where are your top five travel destinations? Why?

In that vein, I’m starting a gratitude thread here because thinking about what I’m grateful for, as well as seeing other people’s lists, always gives me warm, fuzzy feelings.

My only rule: Limit your list to five, and try to make it small things, rather than general ones.

Here’s mine, in no particular order:

1.  The sunny weather we’ve been having lately, which means summer is oh-so-close. I hope. In any case, I love to see the sun, especially after a very cloudy winter.

2.  Today was a really good day. Glen was here for awhile and the kids were busy and happier than I’ve seen them in a long time.

3.  The kids and I switched their rooms around so the girls each have their own and the boys are sharing. Not a fun process, but I enjoy even small changes. Plus three of them are so excited about having “new” rooms, I can’t help but be happy about it.

4.  My buddy from high school, Dan. We’ve had some great chats this week and he’s incredibly supportive and helpful, a true kindred spirit.

5.  Re-runs of Scrubs that just started over from the first episode. It’s a quick break that’s sure to make me laugh.

OK, your turn! What are you grateful for? If you’re reading this on Facebook, do me a favor and head over to my blog (http://parentingbytrialanderror.com) to comment.

“Only BORING people are bored,” my dad would remind me, whenever I made the mistake of expressing said feeling.

I took my dad’s words to heart, primarily because there is not much more disagreeable to me than being viewed as a boring person.

I mean, really. Is there any excuse, in this world of numerous activities and choices, for anyone to claim boredom? I don’t think I’ve ever actually been bored in my life. There is just too much to do. Restless, yes. Overwhelmed, sometimes. Overloaded, definitely. But never, ever bored. I don’t even have enough time in the day to do all the things I want to do, much less claim to have excess time to be bored.

Unfortunately, several of my children do not share my desire to be seen as a creative, interesting person. At the very least, they don’t care what I think.

The first time I ever used the line, “Only BORING people are bored,” thinking these magic words would put an end to the complaint for good, Andie waved them off. “Don’t you care if you’re a boring person?” I asked, aghast.

“Not really,” she said.

Evidently this line doesn’t work on every child, but for the kids that it does motivate, it’s a good one.

I have, however, found one motivational phrase that works like a charm for all my kids when they say they’re bored.

“If you’re bored, I can find some work for you to do.”

They clear out so fast, you can see the dust flying in their wake.

My main goals for the boys are for them to learn to tie their shoes and ride their bikes without training wheels. Yes, I know, it’s pretty sad that an 8-year-old and a 7-year-old still cannot do either of these tasks, but believe me, it hasn’t been for lack of trying. Neither of the boys wear shoes that lace-up very often, so it isn’t usually an issue and their lack of ability gets overlooked.

As for the bikes, Cody has notoriously horrible balance. The kid will be walking along, even sometimes just sitting, and all of a sudden he’ll fall over. When he was much younger, he once told me that his legs were “tricky” and just didn’t want to work right. Suffice it to say that riding a bike without training wheels is not an easy task for a child with such poor balance, especially a child forced to learn on gravel roads, which is all we have around here.

Logan, on the other hand, has never been particularly interested in pushing the pedals on his bike at all. From the get-go, he has always held his tricycle, and later, bike, by the handlebars and wheeled it around, walking next to it. I’ve thought this was extremely strange, but never worried too much about it.

I also want each of them to pick a hobby or skill that they’d like to spend time on and perfect this summer. For Cody, I’m guessing it will be baseball-related, since he just started baseball practice yesterday. He has been wanting to play the past few years, but it never worked out. He’s so excited about it, even though he has hardly ever played. I think a daily assignment of 15-20 minutes of catch and batting practice won’t be out of line for him.

I’m getting excited for summer with all of these ideas, so I hope they work out the way I’m envisioning them in my head.

Now I just have to get to the mundane task of getting everything organized and on paper so I can actually implement this plan.

Thankfully, we both agree that me working from home part-time is the best choice for our family. That way I can be here for the kids, take care of the house and meals, yet still earn some money. However, I would never be able to do that if I didn’t have him to support me financially. I’m so grateful to him for all he does for us. He works hard to give us what we need. I know there’s no way I would be able to afford to live in this house — the repairs and maintenance alone would kill me! — without him. He is also a wonderful father to our kids. He spends as much time with them as he can.

The reason I leave Glen out of the majority of my blog posts is because our relationship is very, very complicated, to put it succinctly. It’s not something I wish to publicly discuss. Although we haven’t managed to find a way to be together as a couple yet, there will always be love and friendship between us, no matter what happens. He doesn’t need to do everything that he does for me, yet he has been doing it for over two years now. I would fall on my face without his help.

Thank you, Glen, for everything you do for the kids and me. We are blessed to have you in our lives.

Do you have someone you’d like to express gratitude to for going above and beyond what he/she needs to do?

Have a wonderful day, and may your kids spoil you with cards, pictures, hand-picked bouquets of dandelions, lopsided cakes and lots of smiles and hugs!