My grandparents are tightwads! No seriously. My dad often jokes with them about buying dog for them to eat since they "never seem to have money." Don't get me wrong - They have money, not a lot, but enough. (I honestly think that's where I get my knack for saving a dime.)
Anyway... that's why I was shocked when on our 10th anniversary my grandmother gave me a gift. I rushed to open the neatly wrapped box top find a Thomas Kinkade snowglobe inside!
I. LOVE. SNOWGLOBES! They are one of the few things I actually collect.
I was so proud of my new treasure - both the meaning behind it and the fact that my grandparents were still alive to celebrate our 10th anniversary with us. I brought it home and put it high on a shelf behind our couches. I would occasionally bring it down, wind it for the boys to listen to, then gently place it back on the shelf I thought was out of reach. It wasn't.
As I'm standing, washing dishes one day, I see Jonathan jump on the back of the couch, reach for my treasure, then hear this horrible shattering noise. In his quest to listen to the snowglobe, MY snowglobe, he had dropped it on the corner of the coffee table and broken it.
I was irate! I turned the corner to see water, glass and glitter flakes everywhere. I tore into him. I began yelling about how a precious gift like that could never be replaced. "How could you not understand the meaning behind the fact that it was MY gift? Now when G-ma and G-pa die, I'll have nothing to show for their lives!" I spanked him and sent him to his room. He, by his choice, stayed there for the rest of the day.
When I look back on that day (even retyping this 15+yrs later), I am honestly embarrassed and devastated. How could I possibly treat him like that? He was only 5yrs old. Jay, out of all of our kids, is by far the most tenderhearted.
I cleaned the glass up though and went on about my day. I remember talking to him that night. I remember apologizing for the angry words I said, but I still didn't want to let go of MY snowglobe. I searched for weeks for a repair shop, determined to have it fixed as soon as possible, needing only to save the $75 to do so.
That was August. We found out we were having another baby only a few weeks later.
Fall came and we played in the leaves.
The snowglobe was quickly forgotten. By me.
Christmas night we were at my parents house. Everything was going great. I have always entered spending time with my parents, brothers and sister (in law). But when it came time to open gifts, momma made me sit down on the couch. That's never a good thing with us. It means - I'm about to make you cry.
I was very nervous. Then Jonathan walked in with a box. It was wrapped in the most beautiful Christmas paper I think I have ever seen. Mom was crying when she said, "He told me he had to get you something when we took them to the store..."
I had no idea what I was about to open. Jay sat down on the couch beside me. As I began to unwrap the box, tears began streaming down my face.
It was a snowglobe. A dolphin snowglobe.
I heard a tiny voice beside me say, "Mom, I'm really sorry I broke your snowglobe."
I don't remember much more about Christmas. I remember that I couldn't stop crying. It all hit me again - how I had wounded his spirit to the point that he, a five year old, would remember months later. I cannot think about the events now without crying still.
I can tell you that the snowglobe I got from my grandparents that year was never, nor will it ever be, fixed. It sits on a shelf in our livingroom to remind me of the power of my words.
****2021 update****
Beside it sits another snowglobe though - my reminder of the power of forgiveness, the desire of my children to always know my unconditional love and to please me at all costs. More recently, though, the two snowglobes have become my reminder of the grace and mercy I've been given over my 26yrs as a mom.
