Juice Pop pleaser

My 5 yr old has been trying to get mom to pay more attention to him lately. He asks me what I like to do, where I like to go. He knows I can hardly say no to music so he makes me listen to the music on his favorite video game so I will be with him. He knows how to make me feel guilty about not playing with him more. So his idea the other day is to make juice pops in the ice cube tray. Fine, mom has too many chores anyway. He was so excited to do this. Apple juice is his favorite and he was more than happy to go get a new bottle out of the basement, a job he usually begs for someone to go down with him. Putting the toothpicks in was all his job and he jabbered away the whole time. Which he usually does anyway. His teacher's only comment at parent teacher conference was that he was good but a bit talkative. He reassured me how good they were and healthy. I'm not sure why he reassures us or him of things being healthy, perhaps as a way for us to acknowledge his good choices. He waited patiently for them to freeze, although he had little choice in the matter as I had to drag him with me to a council meeting at school then to tennis lessons for my daughter.

The truth is I need to listen to him more and spend more time on his level, and sometimes his level is above or better than mine. It was a good-table moment and a reminder to take more time to do a few little things.