Brenden’s school had an art show last week and I skipped out on class so the whole family could go. We got to see art work from all the kids and in the gym the kids got to try out different mediums.

Brenden's zebra.

The Snowy Day.

Brenden's rendition of Matthew's Dream.

Emily and I hung out concentrating on one thing at a time while Patrick chased after Brenden who moved quickly from thing to thing.

For a brief moment we were all in the same spot.

Last week I took the kids to the mall play area to run around and generally act like kids. This particular mall has various soft things for the kids to climb up on like a train, a mountain a little mining shaft. There was a little girl I’d been watching because she had long curly auburn hair and it was gorgeous. She called out to her mom that a little boy wouldn’t let her get to the top of the train. Her mother responded in a way that took me by surprise. She told her, “push your way to the top.” Pretty simple really, but so different from what I would have told my kids. I would have told them to go play somewhere else. Or to wait their turn. Or something else equally “nice”. This mother wasn’t proposing that her daughter hit anyone or push or shove. She was just saying, if you want it, go get it. I don’t think either response is wrong, it just reminded me that not everyone approaches the world in the same way. And I liked the idea of teaching my kids to balancing pushing their way to the top with going to play somewhere else.