Avery has shown me in a couple of instances that he really places value on things people give him if he remembers the person those things are from. I learned a little about values from him too.
This particular instance caught my attention. I was helping him get dressed to go to a mother's day out morning. He attends a morning class where he socializes with other kiddos, makes crafts, eats a snack, plays outside and learns ABC's, bible stories, etc... Some mornings, he has a hard time allowing himself to leave me. I remind him that "Momma always comes back for you". I even drew a picture of a stick figure "momma" holding the hand of a stick figure "Avery" and allowed him to put it in his pocket. I told him, in an effort to help him be brave through the morning, that he could take the little pen and ink picture out of his pocket when he missed me to help him feel better and remind him that his momma is thinking about him.
It was at least a week later when I was picking him up again, he found the picture outside on the ground. At first, I thought he was stalling staring at the ground, but then I realized that he was excited to see the picture. It must have fallen out of his pocket the week before, and then stuck to the ground when it rained. He excitedly had me pick it up, and then he wanted to hold it the whole way home. We had his treasured picture in the car for about a week, in which he wanted to hold it if we went anywhere and then put it back in the car so he could have it next time.
To me, at first, it was a crumply stick figure picture. To him, it represented his momma's love. I was reminded how we powerfully shape our children's lives. Really, anything Avery owns has been given to him since he still has little control over his life. He treasured what I momentarily took for granted - his love for me and my love for him. I pray I give him the good and not the bad, and that I can teach him to make wise choices so that he will have positive experiences.
