Welcome Mat Perspective

Like most things associated with Texas, the winds in this great state also tend to be on a Grand scale.

(Henceforth, we shall discuss this new measuring instrument within future Boblog posts in terms of “TGS”, or the “Texas Grand Scale”. Please feel free to adapt the TGS for your own purposes!)

The recent TGS winds brought with them a measure of red-flying-dirt-stuff (“RFDS”)  (kidding… no more ridiculous acronyms or other such useless Mnemonic devices, I promise…)  The reddish dirt that flies around here gets on everything, as you fellow Texans well know.  Over the weekend, my youngest grandson Joshua joined me in a ritualistic sweeping of the front porch. We tossed the welcome mat aside, and then he watched as Grampa Bob swung the mighty bristle-stick with the greatest of ease, kicking up more red dust clouds in the process.  As the red fog billowed around us, Josh raised his arms in the air and stomped around with glee. For some odd reason, he found this amusing. I found it hard to breathe.

We wrapped up the sweeping chores, and my little helper decided he would handle the task of replacing the mat in front of the door. With scrunched brow and a tongue of determination curling up the side of his mouth, he triumphantly slid the mat back into place in front of the front door. We cheered his success, shared a root beer to celebrate, and finished the job.

As we closed the garage door and walked to the front door of the house, I noticed that the Welcome mat was upside down. I brought this to the attention of my grandson, and turned the mat around. He took a good look at it, and with a troubled tone, emphatically stated, “No! Th’other Waayy!"  It became obvious that he was adamant about his original placement of the mat ~ and after all, who am I to have a battle of wits or opinion with a 3 year old? Stalemate, at best… I just won’t play those odds. I returned the mat to its new position in life and we entered the house - after wiping our feet of course.

So ended Sunday…

Now, Monday is a different critter all together – back to “official”, grownup-type work. With my coffee and 8 hours of sleep in hand, I headed for the front door and the start of the work week. After opening the front door I happened to look down at yesterday’s handiwork, and couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear… 

I’d like to think that Joshie knew what he was doing yesterday. And as I stood there grinning at the front door, he ran up behind me, sporting his Spiderman P.J.s and cheerio cup in hand. He pointed at the mat and announced cheerfully “That’s mine!”

Strangers walking up to our house now, may find it odd that we placed the mat facing the wrong direction. They may wonder just how confused the family behind that door is.  But anyone who knows us already, knows they are welcome here at this home, despite the upside down greeting. What tickles me is that now each day when I go to work, when I step out of my door in the morning, I am immediately welcomed into my day, and am reminded of just how special little kids are, and the fresh eyes they use to look at this big ol’ world of ours.

Matthew 18:2-6

A child sees everything, looks straight at it, examines it, without any preconceived idea; most people, after they are about eleven or twelve, quite lose this power, they see everything through a few preconceived ideas which hang like a veil between them and the outer world.
          - Olive Schreiner (The Letters of Olive Schreiner)