Chris and Jenni

Today the kids and I were discussing our last name, Burns. Aidan was a little distressed about the fact that he doesn’t have an “A” in his last name, he likes the letter “A” and when you are five it’s a big deal. He was also even more discouraged when I explained further that Guenna and Caitriona would be changing their last name to something else (although I think he was thinking that they would be able to change it to whatever they wanted to, which would probably include a letter “A”!) No fair. I began to explain to him what an honor it was to bear the name Burns, that there were some amazing men in our family with that name, Papa Burns (Chris’ dad) and Grandpa Ralph Burns. I told him how the men in the family carry on the name for the men we’ve descended from and that it was an honor for me to change my name to Burns to help daddy carry on Grandpa Ralph’s legacy. I told him that it was especially an honor because Grandpa Ralph was such a good man, he was a good and faithful husband, a hard worker and a good example as a father. Aidan looked at me and said with almost a confused look on his face, “I thought he was a good man because he was a soldier.” It’s funny to me that of all the things that he thinks of when he thinks of Grandpa is that he was a soldier, but it shows what is impacting on his five-year-old heart. He’s loves to hear the few stories that we have about Grandpa when he was in the war. A little piece to his world right now.

The good thing is that after our little talk, he seemed to be okay with his last name, even if there will never be an “A” in it. One day he will look back on these times and laugh at the things that were so important to him, like the color blue. He’s obessed with the color blue and notices everything that is blue. I know that one day blue wont matter to him so much, but right now it does. Sometimes my adult view is so narrowed to be annoyed with all the little things that seem so important to the little people in my life. I want to tell them, “stop fighting over who get’s what color bracelet! If only you knew how challenging life can really be at times!” But then again, there is an innocence that is so precious and a carefree attitude that we adults find very hard to obtain with all the cares of finances, future and daily life. I have to remind myself to not lose heart over the things that turn their lives upside down. All too soon, they will be dreaming of the future, dreaming of future mates, dreaming of jobs and finances and all the adult things that consume our minds. So mommy, let your babies be babies. And let them fuss over the spelling of their name and the color blue, one day their woes will be ever so much greater, so be thankful.

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