Precious

Precious
I remember my child, well actually maybe both and a few of their cousins (you know who you are!) teasing my Mom about that word. Their eyes would twinkle and the grins would appear as soon as that word was out of my Mom's mouth. They would mimic her Okie way of saying it and they would call everything under the sun by that one word.

I guess it stuck with me more than I realized. Often as I blog or comment on my daughter's blog, I avoid the word precious. I don't know if it is the flash forwards of my grands teasing me one day about my pronunciation of it or how often I use it or the context I use it in, but I find myself avoiding it. I even choke on saying it at times. The pr sound is all that makes it across my lips and I quickly insert another word: sweet, cute or some other inadequate substitution. Lately, I have been feeling a little bummed about that. It's a good word, a descriptive word and actually sometimes, it is the perfect word.

Last weekend while in P-burg. Precious was mentioned. Not by my Mom or one of our kids, but by one of my sisters. We all stared. She casually mentioned how that one word is actually the only one that sometimes expresses how we feel about our grands. I guess our kids teasing our Mom stuck with my sisters too. I kept my thoughts to myself. I've been thinking on them since.

Yesterday, we watched our oldest grand - Casen play his first soccer game. He is only three and although he often tells me, "I'm Casen, The Big Boy!" I still think of him being so little. Yesterday he was running, following the ball from one end of the field to the other - smiling almost the entire time. He often came to the sidelines and asked if it was time for snacks and would happily run back to the game when told no, not yet. He got in a few good kicks and even had a part in his team's first score. His little legs were covered by his shorts and shin guards. His shirt was really, really long, even tucked in. He was, in a word, precious!

So I guess the end of this entry is a warning to my grands (and also my kids). You are not just sweet, or cute, or handsome/beautiful, or ornery, or funny or thoughtful. You are in a word: PRECIOUS. Grands, I know that someday, you will probably tease me about calling you that and may even one day be angry with me for letting it slip out in front of your friends, but I will be using it.

Casen and Liam, you are Precious to me!