One on One Time with a Kid

Tonight was one of those nights that, on paper, looks like any other ordinary night in the household, more or less. We have four kids who tend to run every which way with any of a number of various activities, and tonight was no exception.

The three oldest kids had church youth choir practice. What this did, though, was free up the evening for my youngest son and me, and we spent the entire evening together doing various things.

I didn't think about it while we were in the midst of doing stuff, but a few miinutes ago, as I started reflecting on the last three hours, I came to the realization that this really was a wonderful evening together. Let me describe it to you.

When I arrived home (somewhere around 6pm), my youngest son was coming out of the house, ears of corn in hand. He was planning on husking the corn. So, we husked it together. Incidentally, I've also heard this called shucking. Do you call it shucking or husking? Anyway, he was impressed with my husking ability. I've slowed down a lot the last few years, and it takes me forever to fasten a button or tie a tie, but I can still husk corn with the best of 'em.

While dinner was cooking, he and I came back outside and played a game of basketball. He's developing a quite nice jump shot, and he plays tenacious defense.

After dinner, he and I cleaned up a bit, and then the two of us went out to the garden to pick blueberries. While we were picking, we sang songs (Give Me Oil in My Lamp) and we talked about things that are important to him. We talked about Ronald Reagan (his favorite president), we talked about George W. Bush (who sent my son a personal letter in response to a letter my son sent him last year), we talked about Nebraska football, we talked about our upcoming homeschool football league season, we talked about his great grandmothers (one is a hundred years old, the other is mid nineties), and we talked about religious questions he asked. We picked blues for an hour. The time just flew by.

He ran down to the chicken coop to make sure the chicks went back inside the coop for the evening. While he was checking on the chicks, I grabbed the football from the garage and walked out into the back yard. He turned from the coop to head back toward the house, and boy did his eyes light up when he saw the pigskin. He started running across the yard, my cue that I was supposed to throw the ball to him. I launched a long pass, and he made a nice catch.

We ended up throwing the ball, running pass routes, working on both his receiving and throwing, and working on his punt returns. We worked on making cuts and on knowing which arm to use to carry the ball.

Then we came inside, and we watched some old Nebraska football plays, studying how some of the great players would do their cuts as they ran down field.

I love all my kids equally. Honestly, I truly do. And I love the time I spend with them. Often it's with a group of them -- two, three, or four -- but occasionally I get some one on one time with each of them.

I love the one on one time I get with each kid. It's a special opportunity for me to listen to them, to find out what's on their hearts, and to make sure that I let them know how much I love them.

And tonight was one of those nights. What a great evening!