May 14

Isaac's teacher is putting together a gift basket for her student teacher, who's been with their class since mid-February. Rather than hitting up parents for donations, she told the kids that they'd be welcome to contribute a few dollars from their own allowances, so today I offered to pay Isaac a pittance to unload and reload the dishwasher. Imagine my surprise when that outwardly simple task became a nearly hour-long organizational marathon.

See, when I said "unload and reload the dishwasher," I meant "unload and reload the dishwasher." But what Isaac apparently heard was "unload the dishwasher, take all dishes out of the cabinets, reorganize them on the stove top and kitchen counters, and then put everything back in the cabinets. And then reload the dishwasher." Because that's what he did.

I stood back and quietly watched as he carefully arranged plates by size and color, and then wiggled them around to try to get them to fit on what's always been a slightly-too-small shelf. (I finally had to tell him that it was okay that it wasn't perfect.) And I silently marveled over his patience. I mean, I was paying him a whopping 50 cents to get the job done and he knew it. Still, he wanted to do it right.

I love his steadfast determination and his dedication to finishing what he starts. Those characteristics are blessings, I think, and I feel fortunate that he has them in spades.