Jude Man

Today my Jude man and I made a quick trip to the Credit Union and from there ran to the post office to mail off our I-600A form application with a check ($830) that included both the application fee and our biometrics fee to the USCIS.  I sure hope I filled everything out right and included all supporting documents that were needed- I get so nervous reading government gargin that it starts to make me doubt that I can read at all! I re-read through all the paperwork like 10 times and then had Joshua read through it and make sure I didn't miss anything obvious, so I think we're good to go! Now we'll just wait to hear back from them with our biometrics fingerprint appointment and hopefully our I-171H Notice of Favorable Determination form! I'm not sure how long the wait normally is?

Okay, so my little partner in crime, Jude, just brings so much stinking joy to my life! Do you ever just have those moments where you look at your kid and seriously wish you could give them the world?! He just makes being a mama easy and a joy! (I say that, completely acknowledging that on certain "crap days" I would totally disagree with that statement and probably laugh at it!)... But as a whole, he's just the most tender-hearted kiddo that genuinely seeks to do right, that it makes loving him pretty darn easy! After running to the post office, we ran into Ross real quick and as we walked past the kids clothes isle, Jude saw this shirt that had Iron Man on it. Jude is seriously crazy about anything Super Hero and his eyes immediately lit up! I'm currently working with him on the whole "You don't get something just because you want it, when you want it, thing"... and he's doing surprisingly well with it, normally responding with "I know mama, I'm just lookin'". But today I took a look at Jude and his sweet eyes and then saw that the super hero shirts were just $4.99, so I thought, what the heck- I'll get it for him! He proudly carried it around the store the rest of the time we were there and when I went to check out it rang up for $7.99 instead. Ugh! The whole reason I was cool with getting it was because in my mind $4.99 seemed like a good deal- but not $7.99! (Side Note: I HATE spending money on kid's clothes because A. they don't wear them long enough at all to make you feel like you're getting your money's worth and B. there's barely any material anyway that it seems stupid to pay a lot for such a little article of clothing!). So in the moment of being annoyed with the price difference I just decided it wasn't worth getting the shirt and kindly told the gal behind the counter that I'd pass on the shirt. Well Jude didn't hear this conversation, so on the way out to the car he's excitedly saying "Mom, mom! Can I see my shirt?!". My heart immediately sank because I knew that I was totally about to discourage his little super hero heart! I told him that I needed to talk to him when we got to the car about the shirt and so he quickly climbed into his car seat and looked at me in anticipation. Me: "Jude, you know how I thought the shirt was on sale and was a good deal? Well, it turns out that it cost more than I thought and so I didn't end up buying it. Sometimes things like this happen." Jude's eyes fill with tears, not tantrum tears, real disappointment tears, slight quiver of the chin tears. And he seriously responds, "It's okay mama, my feelings aren't hurt. It's okay, I understand, it was expensive, right?" as he blinks back the tears. Talk about feeling horrible about a $3 savings!!!! I seriously got teary eyed myself because I felt so bad! Well, any time Jude sees me cry, he gets super sensitive and concerned, and so then he was like "Why are you sad mama?! I'm okay, my feelings aren't hurt, don't cry mama! Maybe we can find a cheap Iron Man shirt at another store?". How sweet is this?! Such a tender heart! I'll tell you what, this whole mom thing is a fine balance of trying to teach your kiddo to value what they have and not be a spoiled brat while truly desiring to give your child the world out of love! I still don't know if the "right thing" should have been to go back in there and buy him the shirt or not- and I didn't. All I know is that I'm grateful for a kid who cuts me some slack and let's me know "I didn't hurt his feelings" when I know I really did. Sigh. LOVE HIM!