Chase...Luckily in boy clothes 

To Mommy With Love

This week I received the most precious gift of a necklace made from the finest multi-hued plastic beads and delicate elastic cord with the most adorable little turtle pendant. It is rare and exquisite. It was made by my soon-to-be five year old son, Chase.

Chase made this necklace in preschool and couldn’t wait to give it to me. While he should have handed it to me like a gentleman, he chose to shoot it to me from his car seat in the back of the truck. I received my gift as a zinging projectile. I’m lucky I didn’t roll the truck as I tried to catch it.

As he shoots it toward me he says, “Mom! I made you this beautiful necklace!” Before I can even get a good look at it, as I’m driving and trying to catch the necklace, he asks if I love it. When I stop at a light I’m able to really take a good look at the ornate necklace his little hands have constructed for me.

“Oh yes, Chase! I love it! It’s so beautiful.”

“Are you going to wear it? You can put it on?” He just can’t wait for me to stretch the elastic over my head and don his gift.

I immediately begin to gush about how lovely and beautiful the necklace is and how very happy I am that he loves me enough to give me such a wonderful present.

He beams from the back seat.

At home when I finally sit down after dinner he leans on the arm of my chair with his chin in his hands and smiles up at me.

“I loooove your necklace, Mom. You love it, Mom? You wear it in your room? You put it in your box in your room?”

“Yes, Sweetie. I’m going to wear it and then when I go to bed I’ll put it in the jewelry box with all my most favorite things.”

I think his face is going to crack, he’s smiling so big. He can’t take his eyes off the necklace he made and gave to me. He can’t help but reach up and count the beads and point out the blue turtle pendant; for the 100th time. He is so overjoyed at giving someone a gift that he made for them. What a beautiful thing.

I remember when I was in 1st grade and it was my mom’s birthday, my dad picked my sister and me up from school, took us to a little drug store where we perused the store for a gift for my mom. I chose this ceramic, or maybe it was porcelain, kitten. It was SO cute with its gray fur and blue eyes. It appeared to be walking along and its little tail stuck straight up in the air. I knew my mom was going to love it.

I was right. She just gushed about what a sweet little kitten it was and then she proudly displayed it on her dresser. I have to tell you that my mom is really a most excellent mother because she was neither a knick-knack OR a cat fan. Nevertheless, she could see how much I liked the kitten and so she did too.

Unfortunately every time she would go outside or over to the neighbor’s house to visit for a bit I’d go in her room and play with that cat. I just couldn’t keep my hands off of it. I’d walk it around on her dresser by holding onto the little tail.

I broke that poor kitten’s tail off more times than I can count. I’d always rush to glue it back on and it finally had a huge globby ring of glue where the tail had been glued on repeatedly. I may have gotten in trouble for playing with and breaking it, but I don’t remember. I just remember that my mom loved the gift I’d chosen for her solely on the basis that I loved it.

I will have to keep a close eye on my jewelry box now. I know that my little dress-wearing guy will have no compunction about sneaking away with the beautiful bead necklace with the stunning blue turtle pendant that he gave to me. He really loooooves it.