Yesterday was the day where parents are invited to come to the school and eat Thanksgiving lunch with their kids. I knew Sarah would not want to see me at her lunch table but Jonah might like eating lunch with me. But I remembered Jonah isn't a big fan of turkey. So I went to his school, checked him out and took him to Chick-Fil-A (his choice). We visited over lunch about the holidays coming up and how he likes middle school. A lot of changes have happened in our home in the last couple of years. Jonah is the youngest ...so he has watched his oldest brother graduate and move off to college. He has also watched his sister get her own car and drive herself not only to school but wherever else she needs to go. So I think watching all of this has made Jonah impatient to be older. Jonah in many ways was just born old. But I think the blessing to being the youngest sibling is if you watch carefully your older siblings you can learn a whole list of things not to do and the wise choices you should make. 
Now before you start saying "that's awful....Luke is such a great big brother".....it's now been a year an half since Luke moved out and Jonah can't wait for his brother to come home on college breaks or holidays. Thanksgiving break is next week and Jonah asked me just yesterday at lunch what all we are going to do. I went through which movies we are going to go see and where we will eat Thanksgiving dinner and how we are going to do a little Christmas shopping. Jonah said, "It's always good to have everyone home." See....Jonah is wiser than his age. He loves his family even if occasionally he needs some space from his older brother.
Jonah is the responsible, mature kid in my house. Rick nicknamed Jonah the "truth monkey" because Jonah won't ever lie. If you ask Jonah something he will tell you the truth or remain silent if he thinks he should not tell you. But whatever comes past his lips you know will be the truth. Luke & Sarah are responsible and mature too but they both are artists at heart. They dance and sing around the house and that makes Jonah roll his eyes. My favorite story that shows how different Jonah is from his siblings is the day that Luke took all 3 for a drive up town. When Jonah got home he was irritated. So I later asked him what was wrong. He said Luke and Sarah were playing their silly show tunes and dancing around with their hands in the air. Luke was driving, dancing and occasionally putting his hands in the air instead of on the wheel. I asked Jonah, "What were you doing while all of this was going on?" Jonah said he was in the backseat yelling, "Put your hands on the wheel, fool!" I still laugh at this because this is how they each do life. Luke and Sarah are dancing their way through not paying much attention to the here and now. But Jonah is intently focusing on the here and now and dancing is not called for in his book....keeping your eyes focused on the road and your hands on the wheel is #1 for Jonah. Such a smart, young man.
Tuesday afternoon Luke will come home for several days and I'm sure we will have fun playing board games, card games, watching movies, eating and shopping. But most of all we will enjoy just being together again. For my friends that have seniors this year enjoy this time. It's precious. When they go off to college they will come home....maybe not as often but they will and every visit will be priceless. For those of you like me who still have kids at home that are quite a few years away from graduation...enjoy! Middle School may be the arm pit of the universe as far as all the hormonal changes that go on with kids that age but high school brings a whole new set of struggles and precious memories too. As one of my wise friends is so fond of saying....you can't get to the good moments without going through the bad ones. So enjoy them all. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
