Mario walked in last night from basketball hyped up with his buddy, Owen. They were talking about a dream Owen had where he found peoples’ butts and made a hill of butts. They were laughing hysterically about this dream while they were wrestling around on the kitchen floor. Boys.
After Owen left, Mario sat down at the table to play Minecraft.
“You have to eat dinner, buddy,” I told him as I popped in a lasagna dinner. The oven died yesterday so all we have is the microwave (which is usually our go to appliance anyway but it never fails that the one night I’m gonna use the oven, it dies).
“I’m not hungry mom. I just wanna play.”
“You gotta eat.”
“No.”
I move over to where he’s sitting and tickle him. I tell him he needs more flesh on those bones of his. He laughs.
I place the lasagna in front of him and he eats it slowly. His eyes are directed at the computer. I tell him to turn it off and eat. He huffs and sighs and eventually turns it off. He’s mad. He sits in silence and eats. When he’s finished he looks at me and says curtly “there, now can I play?”
“You can be nicer about it”, I tell him. He comes over and gives me a hug and says sorry. As crazy and pissy as this boy is at times, he has got a huge heart. I remove his folder from his bookbag as he plays his game and find this gem.

I do not know Spanish but I have a hunch as to the translation and I smile wide. Mario glances over and smiles at me.
“Can I read it to you?”
I tell him I’d love for him to do that.
“My mom is athletic and caring. My mom is funny.”
Really? Can I love this kid anymore? These little gems bring more joy than any material possession ever could. This is refrigerator worthy, for sure.