Lent for my 5 year old.

On a rare twist in scheduling, I happened to have both Tuesday & Wednesday "off ", meaning I'm not babysitting and while I do check in and get some work done from home, I do not have to go to the office.

Whenever these days come, since they seem to be rare, I try to take advantage of them, such as getting back in bed with AJ and snuggled him (he asks for that every morning) and taking the kids to the Gardens.

Tuesday, I picked up Andrew from school and took both boys to pick out donuts because it was Fat Tuesday. As we are sitting eating, I am trying to explain to them what Fat Tuesday is and what it means (to the best of my limited knowledge in that area.) Since they were stuffing their faces with sugar, they sat silently and listened.

This morning, over breakfast, as they were eating the second half of their donut from Tuesday (I'm not crazy enough to let them eat the entire thing before lunch. But send Andrew to school all sugared up this morning... ok in my book.), I mentioned that today was the first day of Lent. Lent is something that my family never really participated in. We observed and celebrated Easter. And truthfully, I had no intention of sacrificing anything for lent this year (but I will faithfully participate in Fat Tuesday... you know it!)

So, I explained Lent and how it ties to Fat Tuesday over breakfast and Andrew immediately chimes in, with no prompting from me, that he is going to give up his computer games. And like a "good mommy", I discouraged him. From playing computer games. To celebrate Lent. In order to honor and remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. Good mommy. Just great.

"It's a really long time." "Are you sure?"

After reconsidering, Andrew chose to give up Frosted Flakes. Again, completely his own idea. But another good one, I thought. Grant he usually only eats them once or twice a week, but enough to get the idea.

So, that got me thinking. Here I had no intention of giving any up for Lent even though I love the idea of sacrificing something in order to prompt a thankful heart for Jesus' ultimate love and sacrifice for us. Ah, the heart of a child. But I can't let Andrew do it alone.

Can I give up laundry?

For lent (starting tomorrow - already had it before the converstaion took place), I will give up my flavored coffee creamer. I know it doesn't seem like much. I'm not a big breakfast eater and I practically live for my morning coffee... programmed to be freshly ground & brewed when I wake up. My love for Eight o'Clock Coffee w/Hazelnut Coffeemate liquid creamer is extreme. (I'm second guessing myself just writing this.)

Finally, I would love for you to visit my fellow blogger at Diaper Diaries. She posted her Works for me Wednesday, which prompted me to write this since our experiences matched practically word for word. (Jill, thanks for the rip-off inspiration.)