“You Hardly Ever Shower”

At Kindergarten during the last month of school my son burst through the classroom door and proudly announced: “I made a special card for you Mom!”

It is so awesome how the teachers help kids prepare something for Mother’s Day weekend (and I suspect dads of school-aged children everywhere really appreciate that too).  I happily told my Zach how I couldn’t wait to open his card that weekend.

As we began riding our bikes towards home he says to me, “You are a really good mom.”

Ah, what a sweetheart, I thought. He continued, “And you hardly ever shower.”

To which I was a bit taken aback.  Now, true I had not yet showered that day, but I was cleaning the house right up to his school day ended, which was only 11:30 a.m. (yep, in California, a mere 3-hour Kinder day).  I felt a little self- conscious and started to wonder, “How often do I pick him up during the week prior to proper grooming?”

He repeated his proud statement, “Hardly any showering at all, Mom.”  Now this is getting a little extreme, and I am struggling to see the compliment in here. Oh please let this not be printed in my Mother’s Day card, which was likely crafted under the eyes of his teacher and some properly groomed parent-helpers in the classroom.  Maybe this is a case of April-Showers-May-Flowers type confusion?  I mean they really do throw out a lot of catchy rhymes and such in Kinder.

I rode my bike up a little closer to his and said in a very patient and interested tone of voice, “Son why do you think I ‘hardly ever’ shower?”  To which he looked at me so confused.  He said in a loud voice, “I said you hardly ever ‘shout’ and that you are not much of a ‘shouter’ –which I like!”  Oh. Bless his heart.

“Let the words you speak always be full of grace.” Colossians 4:6