Fill 'er up to the Max...

I love myself a good Kindergartner.  I think it's my favorite age.  I am particularly enjoying my current one...Mr. Max.  He's delicious right now.  He doesn't like smooches but he loves snuggles.  He's a sucker for cheese sticks, yogurt and strawberries.  He still intensely loves the color green.  Now that he is in Kindergarten his world is expanding and he has so much to tell me about his day.  Everything is exciting.

Something I greatly admire about my Max is his intense obedience.  He got a double dose of this gift up in heaven and I hope he never looses it.  If there is a rule, he will obey it.  Britton and I often joke that he sees his older siblings get in trouble for various shenanigans and he takes mental note, "OK, don't do that, and don't do that... and never do that!"

Once in a while, Max gets to buy his lunch at school.  Last week in true Max form, he pronounces, "Jackpot!" when I tell him tomorrow is the special day.  We got the menu out and went over the entree options.  "Sloppy Joes" are being served up.  (eeewww!)  But I also read that "Fresh Pizza" is an alternative option if he would rather.  Max proceeded to explain to me the rule that if you buy something for lunch one day, you have to choose something else the next.  I told him I thought that was a good rule for kids who bought their lunch every day but was sure it didn't apply to kids who bought their lunch just once in a while.  He observed the information and that was that.

The next day I kindly got an email from Max's teacher letting me know he ordered a Sloppy Joe for lunch.  She said he took one bite but clearly didn't like it.  She was concerned because he didn't eat much and she knew he would be very hungry by days end.  (She snuck him a little snack later that afternoon.  Thank goodness for superior teachers...)  I shared our conversation with her about his concern for breaking the rule and that is why he ordered what he ordered.  He would rather go hungry than disobey his teacher.

Be still my heart.

I don't have this same gift.  I like to think of myself as a rule follower, but being truthful I think I'm a bit more of an "independent thinker" (stating it nicely).  I find myself questioning motives and procedures before I even give the full picture a shot.   How wonderful to trust so implicitly that you just obey, not question.  I love that about my Max.  I hope to be like him someday.