1. Listen without interrupting. (Proverbs 18)
2. Speak without accusing. (James 1:19)
3. Give without sparing. (Proverbs 21:26)
4. Pray without ceasing. (Colossians 1:9)
5. Answer without arguing. (Proverbs 17:1)
6. Share without pretending. (Ephesians 4:15)
7. Enjoy without complaint. (Philippians 2:14)
8. Trust without wavering. (Corinthians 13:7)
9. Forgive without punishing. (Colossians 3:13)
10. Promise without forgetting. (Proverbs 13:12)

Every night between 6:30 and 6:45 we have a fierce competition in our house. Stair racing. All family members are welcome but it usually ends up being a heated race between myself, the child and our dog Ezra. There is a catch… The first person to reach the top of the stairs is NOT the winner – the second person is. If you are first, you are the worstest, second is the winner, third has the hairiest chest, fourth has the stinkiest toots, and fifth grossest breath. I finally convinced my son that Ezra is a member of the family so he is considered a person. If I reach the top first by miscalculating Ezra’s interest in the evenings race, I usually change the rules to first being the winner – mom’s privilege. Ezra doesn’t really care about the rules, he just likes to race and stop and kiss my son along the way to distract him from winning. The child hates dog spit. (Sucks for him because we have 2 very affectionate dogs in the house.) The child usually ends up getting annoyed by the dog, I end up laughing or rolling my eyes, and Ezra is excited that he got to race and kiss someone at the same time. We finish the race with a booty dance victory for all involved.  Life is good!

So my son has created his own “sign language”.  Some days it’s in Spanish and some days it’s in Chinese.  I don’t know much Spanish, Mandarin, or Sign Language.  What I do know is that his “sign language” is getting on my last nerve.