Today I’m over at the MOB Society today sharing a favorite thing my amazing husband set up for the boys…
email accounts.
I think the idea was inspired by some emotionally driven commercial (Did y’all see that one? Google, maybe?)
Originally the function of having email accounts for each boy was to have an easy way to record the sweet, hilarious and memorable moments.
It truly is easy.
You simply take a pic, write a brief commentary and send it via email to the account.
Voila! Memory saved (no glue sticks or coordinating scrapbook paper involved).
We started by emailing the ridiculous things like:
Then it moved to the sweet things like:
The other day the game changed.
We have a couple of old iPhones milling around the kitchen. One of them is set up to receive the emails for all the boys’ accounts. Ever so often Quade will check to see if Bruce has sent a new email. But that’s about it (At the time of this post Quade is only 7 years old…too young for his own cell phone in my mind. He’s usually either with me, at school, or asleep. Or…).
On this particular day I just left the boys with a sitter and was headed to a friend’s “welcome to summer” party (Bruce was out-of-town). Anyway, at the stop light I checked my email (y’all do it too!) and I found this:
Surreal. My baby embodied both a teenager and a “friend” in that moment.
To be honest my first thought was, “Maybe the babysitter typed it out? Maybe he told her what to say?”
Either way, of course, I couldn’t leave such a request unanswered so I sent this response:
(Seeing this pic has caused me to question why my husband has ever even considered kissing me…counting on the fact his eyes are probably closed as well…)
Anyway…
Really the moment I don’t ever want to forget was when I got this next email:
He melted me.
I couldn’t let a chance go by without speaking a blessing over him…
cool, huh?
Now okay. Before you start:
1) getting mad at your husband because he hasn’t set up email accounts for your boys
or 2) getting upset that your 7 year old hasn’t sent you an email telling you how sweet you are and that he loves you…
My husband is wonderful and my son is amazing…but they are both sinners.
There is a side of me that didn’t want to share this post for fear it would make you feel worse.
You see the other day I did a “compare and fail”. I ran into a friend who in my mind is the “perfect” mother and whose boys are “perfect” (that’s the kicker…she blows my “there’s boys” excuse out of the water). After seeing my “perfect” friend and holding myself and my children up the an unrealistic standard for the rest of the day(…and being miserable) I finally had to stop the flogging. I tried something else…
What if instead of wishing for different I stopped and thought about what I had which is fabulous? (my boys are pretty awesome in 1000 amazing ways).
What if instead of comparing I stopped and learned from her? (maybe I could be a little more patient and model calmness).
So all that to say…this is a tiny glimpse into the MacFadyen world. I don’t share all our junk because who wants to read that all the time?
If you are still struggling, just picture me the other night out to dinner with all my boys. Knox throwing everything within arms reach. Boys not sitting in seats for even two minutes. Whining. Fighting. We are real people, y’all.
But having email for our boys has been a blessing in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I would be a bad friend if I didn’t share this with you. Kay?
Pancake Friday, really? It’s a school day you know! Undeterred my Husband has initiated pancake Friday. Our two youngest are beside themselves with excitement at such a treat on a school day. And as my hubby pointed out, we’re usually too busy Saturday and Sunday mornings.The girls go to bed a little earlier on a Thursday, as do we, in anticipation of Pancake Friday. Instead of ending the school/work week cranky, we ‘re ending on a high note.
Love that your hubby went ahead with the idea. So fun! I agree those pancake mornings are a little more involved but oh so delicious and memorable. Thanks for sharing Tanya!
This summer I’m experimenting with a system to make my kids manage their own TV watching and computer time. They’re given a specified number of popsicle sticks each morning (color coded by child) that they can “spend” each day. Plus a specified number of movie sticks per week. Once they’re out, no more for the day (or the week for movies). I offer to buy their sticks every morning for .50 each which can go towards credit at a craft store (I always bought them crafts anyway, but this makes them earn that too). They have to choose about selling in the morning so no “cashing in” unused sticks at the end of the day. The stick system doesn’t begin until mom is out of bed, so they can watch away on the days Matt and I are being lazy! Hoping it works – so far, so good.
such a great idea Holly! Thanks for sharing here. Love all the details…color coding, movie/TV, swap for cash…nice. Curious to hear out it works out!