Priceless

I'm going to share a little story with you - hope you don't mind.
It's a proven fact that by and large, children of divorce tend to have low self-esteem. It takes a lot of extra love and support from parents to overcome this. Here's an account of one of the things I have done with my own children.
Grocery shopping used to be a nightmare for us, because Stuart and Lucy would get bored and restless, and Stuart would get plain mad about it all, so they'd bicker and whine and generally drive me crazy.
Then I came up with a plan.
I made grocery lists for each of them, organized by aisle, and as we hit each aisle, we would see who could read and locate all their list items first, like a scavenger hunt.
We talk about what is the best buy and how we can tell, and I let them have choices as much as I can allow.
"What do you think? Should we buy the tongs with the red handle, or the green handle?"
"Purple!" says Lucy happily.
"Oh, I didn't even notice the purple! Those are gorgeous!" (Truthfully, I didn't want the purple so much, but I decided that whether or not my tong handles matched my kitchen was a small matter that could easily be let go for the sake of her enthusiasm.)
We read food labels and talk about what they mean. "This stuff is solid sugar, with no healthy ingredients at all! Here, try reading this stuff!"
"High fruck-toes corn sigh-rup?"
"Yeah. That stuff is not so good for you in large quantities. Let's find something else."
"What's quantities?"
"Amount. Like if you have a LOT of My Little Ponies, that's the amount of ponies you have. This stuff has a large amount of high fructose corn syrup, which is not even as good for you as straight sugar, really."
"It SOUNDs yucky, too."
"Well, the sad thing is, it probably tastes really good. That's how they trick people into buying it."
"I like fruit better than cookies," Lucy declares. It's totally true - we go find some.
We talk about what makes a good value and checking the amount you're getting for the price you're paying, and getting the milk with the latest expiration date on it - all kinds of things. The kids have really loved it, and not even noticed that they're learning anything. I make a point of complimenting their choices.
Anyway, one day while shopping I told Stuart all about the Reading Endorsement class I was taking and how the professor said I needed to find a recording device so I could record a student reading out loud.
Stuart said, "I'll bet they're over by the video games," and I said that was a great idea.
We went over to electronics and looked everywhere, but no recording device was to be found. I was getting a little frustrated.
Stuart said, "Mom, if your professor wanted you to have one, then maybe she has one. You could ask her where to buy them at."
I was so happy, I said, "Good problem-solving skills, Stuart! That's an awesome idea!" I wanted to hug him, I was so proud, but lately he's becoming a little self-conscious about me doing that kind of thing in public, so I held off.
Later, he went and stood meaningfully beside a big plastic container full of red-sprinkled heart-shaped sugar cookies (his favorite!), and I said, "No, son - we've got enough snack food in the house this week."
Stuart grinned and said, "Mom, I love you as much as every single one of these cookies!" and he flung his arms out
He stood there grinning, arms wide open and eyes shining with love, and I realized that, despite his growing embarrassment at being embraced in public, he wanted a hug right then and there in front of everyone.
I gladly acquiesced, holding my cheek against his fuzzy little head and wondering at the love and devotion that a boy can feel for his mother.