This is my boy. He was the only eager apple bobber at the Halloween party. He’s not known for backing down from a mess. Its been awhile since I blogged about Mail or Anoif, partly because they are growing up and have a more honed sense of privacy.

But this is important and awesome. The other day I was mulling over making a big change in my life. There is a job training I was thinking of taking. The job itself could afford me an income eventually, and still allow me to stay at home with the kids for a few more years. Best of all, it took in to account my various passions and strengths as well as my attitudes towards humanity, learning and life. I was very excited about it but there was one aspect of which I was unsure. I didn’t know if I had the executive level skills needed to manage the time to study, work, be at home keeping life smooth, and homeschool the kids. So, I asked my 8 year old what he thought about the idea of me pursuing such a task, and I expressed my concerns somewhat absentmindedly. On some level I was just thinking it would be good for him to hear a person talking about their hopes and doubts. Then he’d know it was okay to voice them himself when faced with a decision. But I didn’t expect too much support from an 8 year old.

What did I expect? I guess I thought he might not have much to say on the issue, or that he might reflect mainly on how it would effect him. How lame and underestimatey of me. Instead he laughed out loud and said in the most confident voice, “Are you kidding me , mom? You are the most organized person I know. You have two calendars on the wall right here, plus you have one on the computer and in your bag. You always know what is planned for the day and help us figure out when to get ready and what we’ll need. You make all of the appointments and get us to the doctor and parties on time. You will have absolutely no problem with the organization of anything! Go for it.”

My heart nearly exploded with happiness and surprise. Its not that I care to be perceived as organized in particular. And he surely doesn’t know that I actually need most of these tools to keep us on track or that one of my big goals for the year is to help the kids pick up these tools to hone their executive skills. All he knows is his mom has got it together. I don’t often try to see myself from the outside and assess how I must appear to others, so getting such a glowing report on one aspect of my abilities was a very big boost. And uh,how cool is that that my kid can give pep talks? That was a skill I didn’t even know he had yet!