Those Me-Tainted Glasses

So with the school projects.

Let me just say that I am not afraid to use the "Oh, I have five children at home and so we are just gonna do the very best we can, mkay?" card at the mere sighting of a school project assignment.

And, so on the VERY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (Mercy is for the weak, Daniel son!), Jack's teacher sent home a project for him (read: us) to complete by the next Monday: 

A "Me" Collage.

There were some very, very specific instructions that were to be followed TO THE LET-TER!  Every square millimeter of the board had to be covered.  The specified list of topics she gave had to be represented.  And, so on and so forth.  I *think* it was really an exercise in following directions masked as a reason to paint the house in Elmer's glue and coat the floor in bits of magazine clippings.  

But, alas - we pressed on.

Jason has bucketloads of patience with the kids, except when it comes to school projects. They are his crazy place. So, I sat at the kitchen table with Jack over the period of a few days while he cut and glued and created.

As we sat in the carpool line on the day he had to hand it in, I realized I hadn't taken a photo of his finished collage. And, well - I wanted to remember it.

I wanted to remember what it taught me.

And I never trust that things will return from school in one piece once they've been sent in there. Because my kids create lightsabers out of everything. And a rolled up poster board = lightsaber extraordinaire.

So I snapped a quick photo of it.

It kinda goes like this:

About Me: He loves books and working on the computer.
Favorite foods: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, cookies, and cake.
Home: America. And, Home. Which he told me is where he is happy. (Bless.)
Favorite Color: Blue
My Family: "Mom, we have to put BIG here because we have a BIG family."
"The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me": The day he learned to ride his bike.
Pets, real or wished for: He wants a fish.
"What I like to do with my friends" {upper right}: Play LEGOS and Origami Yoda.

I'm just gonna be real honest here.  I don't enjoy doing these projects.  There is usually a nekked toddler running around, someone needing their be-hind wiped, and a kid climbing on a stool looking for my stash of Reese's cups that I *thought* were secretly hidden on the top shelf.

It's just never the peaceful clipping gluing bonding time I imagine it could be. It's almost always Crazytown and I get grouchy and impatient and wanna grab my non-secret stash of Reese's Cups and hightail it into my closet.

But, God - as He does so often in my life and despite my impatience and annoyance, uses one of my children - right in the midst of the crazy - to show me that my me-tainted glasses are blinding me from the beauty before me.

"But, Sarah. Look."

When I grow up, I want to be...

A Dad.

I need to back my minivan over those stupid glasses.

I wish it was that easy.

But, I'm working on it.