Nothing or Everything

"There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me." -Jane Austen

This little boy of mine is not an "All or Nothing" kind of kid. He is a "Nothing or EVERYTHING" kind of kid. Most nights, Neil and I have to use every power of persuasion we can muster to try to somehow convince this kid to do the bare minimum of responsibilities each night. It often takes all night to get him to do an hour's worth of work. 

But not last night. Jonah insisted that he wanted to get two nights worth of work done in one night so that tonight could be one of complete leisure for him. Naturally this is the week that his teacher assigned double the homework due to the dreaded CRT's  looming in the distant future. This little boy of mine did 3 pages of math, a language page, 45 minutes of reading, and a double session of piano practicing last night. Rather than the normal exhaustion that follows a night of begging, pleading, and fighting our Mr. Jonah, we were exhausted from the rigors of aiding an over-zealous son in accomplishing his unreasonable ambitions. We were still up until 10:00, but two nights worth of work is complete.

The frustrating thing here is that on the nights that Jonah insists on doing nothing, I know that he is perfectly capable of doing everything. I had a wise stake president once say that the most significant word in the sacrament prayer is "willing". In the case of my son, will is everything. With him, "When there is a will, there is a way." Sadly, the counterpart is also true, "NO WILL....NO WAY!"

I am grateful that his will was in full force last night, because I am now looking forward to a most enjoyable night with my son, as he enjoys his night of complete leisure.