A Perfect Mother's Day

The morning started with a stop at Starbucks on the way to church. While purchasing drinks, Madison insisted on getting me a Mother's Day gift. She arrives at the counter with said gift behind her back insisting I can't see it and I need to give her money so she can purchase it for me. When I explained I had no cash on me, she took my debit card from my hand and I had to turn around while she completed the transaction for our drinks and my mystery gift. The cashier was sweet to put the gift in a bag with tissue paper so it was ready for her to present to me.

As we arrived at church I gave Madison 4 quarters for offering. The sweet part of this story is that after church Madison told me that she gave two of her quarters to a girl who did not have offering. The funny part of this story is when we arrived at Wal-Mart after church and Madison announces as she's departing the car that her money is falling out of her panties! As it turns out, they did not collect offering in Children's Church that morning and Madison had a dress on with no pockets and did not bring a purse with her. So, being the ever-resourceful kid she is, she used what she had and decided to put her money in her panties.

After Wal-Mart, we made a quick trip home to change clothes, and eat lunch. Then we went to the pool with Derek and his sister and her husband met us there too. The weather was perfect. The sky was incredibly clear. It could not have been a better day for such activities. We finished the day with a cook-out and then games, before Madison and I returned home to pass out from sheer exhaustion and utter elation from such a perfect day.

F-U-C-K

While walking the greenway near our house yesterday, Madison noticed spray paint writing on the ground from time to time. At one point I noticed one that I tried my best to distract her attention from, but her curiosity drew her to the writing. She said with some disgust and disappointment in her voice "Mom, why would someone write their name on the walkway?" To which I replied (ignoring the fact that it wasn't a name) "honey, I don't know why someone would do that." Thinking we got through this word discovery unscathed I continued walking. As Madison walked away from the writing she then announces what she read. . . "It says FUCK mom." Our conversation continued as follows:

"Honey, I know what it says. That's a very bad word that you should never say."
"I didn't know. I've never even heard that word before."
"I know, but it's a bad word, so now that you know, be sure to not use that word anymore."
"What's it mean?"
"It means many things, but it's mostly used when someone is very upset."
"Why would they use that word?"
"Because they don't have any better words to use."
"Oh"

Who would have guessed that my child would learn the f-bomb while taking a nature walk with me? Not from public school, or the neighborhood kid all parents avoid, or from television, movies, or media, or the internet, etc. I suppose (considering we all learn it at some point or another) I'm glad she learned it with me instead of through those other outlets.

Aside from the lesson for that day, the walk was really quite nice. We saw a baby snake, a cardinal, a turtle and a few ducks too. The river was muddy from days of rain, but the air was cool and the sun was shining and the trees were bright green. It was a beautiful day to learn the f-word :)