The Pretty Blue Box

I have this earring box.  It is blue and it is pretty.  I got the earring box about 18 months ago.  Inside lived my beautiful diamond earrings that are a signature of my everyday life.  So this pretty blue box has had no purpose in life since the diamond earrings have become a fixture in my ears. 

Last Thursday night, RP and I are brushing our teeth.  He reaches up in the cabinet to put his toothbrush away and notices the pretty blue earring box.  Mind you, this box has been in the cabinet, next to our tooth brush cup for quite some time.  He has always liked it, but has never really asked me about it until Thursday.  Of course he asks if he can have it.  I explain to him that no, he can not because if I ever need a place to put my earrings, they need their box.  And of course he asked why I can't use a different box.  I tell him that I don't have a different box because the diamond earrings are the only earrings that I have.  Again, that is not satisfactory for him and he asks again if he can have the box.  Trying to change the course of the conversation, I ask him why he wants my earring box.  *Looking back at the convseration I really wish there was something hilarious to insert here, but there is not.* He did have a real reason, just that he wants it.  So again, I told him no and to move the conversation along to completion, I told him that maybe one day if I ever have another pair of earrings and an earring box, I would consider giving the pretty blue one to him.

So the weekend moves on....we camp out in the cold cold wet wet rain on Friday.  Do Cub Scout stuf related to the camping out on Saturday morning.  Go to Dayton, I come back to Cincy solo because MR and I had a beautiful wedding to attend were I may have had one too many Vodka and Cranberry.  Sunday we each lunch with my long-lost-only-in-Cincinnati-for-one-day Mandy and her boyfriend *who I think is great*.  Try to get my new iPhone 5 *which failed* and take a nap and then head to Cub Scouts where RP is being dropped off by my father.

Naturally they are late.  What is odd though is that my father and step mother stay for the meeting....weird.  So after the meeting we are saying our good byes in the parking lot, and suddenly Parker holds a pretty gold box with a ribbon tied around it up to me.  My dad said something about this being my birthday present and quickly RP and my step mom correct him.  According to RP, it isn't a birthday present, it is just a regular present.  So I open it, and inside are these.....

Because I am who I am and I think the way that I think, my first reaction was, he got me a pair of earrings so he could get the pretty blue box!!!!!  Then my second reaction was, that is so sweet that my little boy wanted to get me a pair of earrings so that he could have the pretty blue box.  My third reaction was pretty much the same, but regardless of all that, I was very surprised and touched that my son voiced something that he wanted to do and made it happen.

So Monday morning comes along and one of the first things out of RP's mouth is asking if I am going to wear my new earrings.  I did, and man oh man are they heavy!  Not used to anything but my studs!  When I told him they were heavy he looked at me an apologized!!!  He thought that meant that I didn't like them, I reminded him that I love them and that I would just have to get used to them.  He smiles and we leave.

Monday, MR picked him up from school and I went there to get RP for soccer practice.  The first thing he said to me was, "you actually wore them all day!  Well, I guess you got used to them huh?  *chuckles* At least half way used to them at least."  *It is funnier if you could hear him and the way he talks*  Then, while we were on our way to soccer, he says, "Mom, I didn't buy you the earrings just so that I could have the blue box.  After we talked about your earrings I thought, I should really get my mom some jewelry!"

He is growing so quickly and to the point where he is very thoughtful about what he does for his family, whether it be gifts or words or actions.  Although I do not know if I would have chosen the same earrings that he got me, they are amazing to me.  They represent a change in his development and a step in his growth.  I love being the parent of a seven year old.  I know that I have felt this at every age he has been, but it just seems to get better and better even though it is getting harder too.  It seems like in the past week, even the way he is approaching his homework and reading is different.  Almost like things are clicking for him and he is enjoying school work more.....maybe I just think about him and his developmental steps too much.......naaahhhhh, that can't be it!!  *haha!*