Giddy-up!!!

Jonathan is going to start horseback riding lessons! A week from today. I am very excited about this. I had been thinking of it for a while. I asked Jonathan the other day, "Hey, buddy, how would you like to take horseback riding lessons?" His reply: "What, so I can fall off the horse and DIE?"
I was in a very mature and together parenting mood... so I answered: "Mommy will have to pay a lot of money for these lessons. Do you think I would pay money if there was a chance you might DIE?"
He thought this was a very satisfactory answer and agreed to try a few lessons. Just a note: I am not a horse person. I don't like being outside. I don't like the smell of manure. I don't like hay. I am not signing him up for my own enjoyment, trust me. But I know I will get a lot of joy out of it... think of the photo ops of him on the horse! Really, I think it could be a great learning opportunity/confidence builder for him. I am excited for him to start.
Jonathan had five dollars that he earned for taking care of Mutton and Biscuit. He put it in his backpack because he said they were collecting money for the earthquake people in Haiti. I put it in an envelope and put Money for Haiti on the front with a question mark (?). (I have learned that you can never really trust kids to give you an accurate account of anything.) He told me that he wanted to give his money to help the earthquake people. I found out today that they were colllecting pennies for Haiti, to go towards the Red Cross. So we went a little above and beyond what they were asking for, but I am very proud of him for having a giving heart and being willing to part with his money.
On Saturday, I took Anna to Target, and we purchased some items to go in care packages that a local church was gathering to ship to Haiti. As I pushed her around the store, trying to find the gauze and the T-shirts and the washclothes and the other items, we were having quite a conversation about the situation in Haiti. We talked about it the whole time, and I explained the need for each item as I put it in the cart. She was asking questions, nodding her head... I thought, Wow, what a great learning opportunity this is for her. She even helped me sort out the items and put them into individual Ziploc bags when we got home. Then, as she was walking away to go play, I mentioned something about the donations, and she turned around, with this totally baffled look on her face, and said, "WHAT are you talking about?" I replied, "You know, we are getting this stuff together to help the people that were hurt by the earthquake." Blank stare. "Mama, I have NOT idea what you are talking about!" Well, there you go. That was some productive parenting time!