TIMELINE

When my boys were little I would ask them everyday at nap time, "Do you want me to read a story, make up a story, or sing songs?"  They would choose something different each day.  Some days we would read some of our favorite stories like, How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, or Molly's Monsters, Good Night Moon, or even an I Spy book.  Other days we would sing songs like, Book of Mormon Stories, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider or one of our family favorites The Cannibal King.  On occasion I would make up a story.  They loved these stories because they would never know what would come next and truthfully neither would I.  I would tell them tall tells of a Princess who lost her bouncy ball down a well that was full of trolls.  Or about a date gone a wire because the Thump and Whistler had just broken out of prison.  Or wild stories about fairies, and gnomes in the forest.  I inherited much of these stories from my mother.  I have fond memories of sitting on the toilet in the bathroom while she would set her hair in hot rollers and tell me wild tales of fairies, trolls, dragons and gnomes.

Each and every day after the story or song time I would rattle off a list of things the boys would get to do as they grew up.  It started like this; When you turn 4 you get to go to Challenger Preschool. When you turn 5 you get to go to Kindergarten. When you turn 8 you get to be Baptized and be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  When you turn 12 you get the Priesthood and get to pass the sacrament at our church.  When you turn 16 you get to drive and kiss girls.  (This always caused a fit of giggles!)  When you turn 18 you get to graduated from High School.  When your turn 19 you get to go on a LDS Mission. (This was long before the age change)  When you are 21 you get to go to college using your athletic scholarship. (Yes! We taught them young that mom and dad would only be paying for their sisters college and they would need to work hard to get scholarships!) Finally at age 25 they would be able to get married!  It didn't take them long to know what I would say next.  They started interrupting me and telling me what would happen next on the timeline.  This started out as a cute little ritual but as the boys have gotten older their dad has refereed to this as "Your Mom's Timeline".  I've heard many a talks with the boys that started out with, if you'll follow "Your Mom's Timeline" you will be...... 

How grateful I am to small and simple things.  If you asked me, "Did you plan this timeline out? Did you think about it before you presented it?"  The simple answer is, No.  It was a silly game that started a time line of events that we all started looking forward to.  The innocence of childhood and the joy of looking forward to something all brought this game to fruition.

Now, my oldest is looking forward to turning 16 in less than a month.  We were talking the other day and I asked him, "Have you kissed anyone yet?"  He answered me with a quirky smile of teeth and braces and the flush of red started up his neck. "No Mom!"  We giggled and laughed together!  He started cracking jokes and we were just enjoying the moment together!  How precious this moment was.  My 16 year old back in my room, just like at nap time.  When I brought up the "What happens when your 16"  I got the same response that I did when he was 4 years old.  When he left the room, my heart was overcome with joy.  My baby boy is growing up and I am the proud momma of this amazing kid!

My message to you this week is to start with small and simple things in your life.  As you follow your own timeline of events you will see the rewards or "FakaPale" in your own life unfold!