[Yes, many of these posts are for the sake of my personal record keeping. I realize you’re not as enthralled with my kids as I am, although I understand if you are, because they’re the best!]

One of our fall routines has been to tape a prayer schedule and “verses to discuss” near our breakfast table. We read Galatians 5.22-23 for a couple of weeks, which led — every morning — to this:

me: Jameson, can you name a fruit of the Spirit?
J: (pausing for long consideration) Umm, gentleness!
me: Yes! Can you tell me what that means?
J: Be gentle at dogs and people. Dogs will bite you.

I’ve yet to read that in any commentary, but hey. I guess it’s valid, right?

But now we’ve moved on to Romans 12:10 — Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. We’ve read it lots and talked about it lots, though I’m never sure what they’re really hearing as they slurp down oatmeal and worry about which color cup they get.

Then last night, we were all heading down the hall to bed. Jameson is obsessed with being “da yeader” (leader) every time we walk down the hallway, so I was surprised when, a few steps into the trip, he suddenly moved to the side and said, “Mom, you can be da yeader.” So I stepped in front of him, thinking maybe it was too dark or something. But when we got to the bedroom, he smiled at me and said, “Mom, when I let you be da yeader, I give you preference. You like that, Mom?”

And I promptly smooshed him with a huge hug and lots of kisses. He is just the sweetest boy.