Yesterday, I was out Christmas shopping with Ross (now 15), Evan (now 11) and Levi. Levi still firmly believes in Santa Claus and I have no reason, religious or philosophical to not just allow that to happen. So they needed some presents for Robert and Ken and Ross needed a present for his girlfriend. I needed more from Santa.
Early in the piece I explained to Ross and Evan that we would have 2 sections of the cart and that one of those sections would be the hidden section. They got into it and helped lots; distracting Levi at critical times, readjusting coats so that they covered critical parts and even helping me to choose gifts. So with all of that we managed to get to the car without Levi once noticing that there were extra gifts there. In fact they have made it to being wrapped in special paper waiting for the big night.
The best part though happened at the car. Levi was in his car seat with the door closed and Evan looked pensive for a minute and said;
"You must have had shopping trips like this with me when I was little and I never knew!"
Sometimes I love watching kids mind's mature. It was true but much harder. There were no big kids to help with the distraction. There were more small kids to buy for. But it is a beautiful thing to watch them grow older. And it is lovely to watch them become more. Evan's next comment;
"Thank you so much for that"
Have I said how much I love these kids. Have I said how much I will miss them again when I leave. Have I said how much I miss Frankie in the holidays!
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