Making mom smile.

If you're a mom, think about what makes you smile... chances are it has somehting to do with your offspring.  If they're little, you may just need to picture their smiling faces. As they get older, it may be the little nuggets of gold that come out of their mouths.

Nick makes me frown sometimes. I try not to share that with the general public. In fact, I've been told that I seem to think Nick is perfect. Well, I don't. My husband and I are constantly battling whining, bad attitudes and smart mouth comments. But he's 7. I don't think he's all that much worse than other kids his age, and I figure if a mom can't brag about a kid, who will? So I do.

Today's golden nugget came out of the blue. Many times, I'll admit to grabbing the "teachable moment"... to the point where I feel like my time with Nick is made up of "Yaseetimmy" moments. (From the TV show Lassie. Every episode ended with Dad lecturing on the moral of the day's episode... "You see, Timmy...")

I grab teachable moments on the el (bad examples of loud teens, good examples of young men offering their seats to older women), on the playground, in restaurants and of course, on the ice.  Ever since he was 3 years old, Nick has heard me tell him that there are only three rules: 

1. Be nice.
2. Have fun.
3. Always do your best.

These have had variations depending on the situation. "Be nice" generally gets translated to "Play Fair" in sports, "Obey the teachers" in school or "Help others" in a variety of situations.

Today I think I am going to celebrate this first rule, and it's full and complete absorption into Nick's life.

While sitting in McDonald's for breakfast (a rare treat, no junk-food lectures please), we were talking about baseball. An older man walked past our table and looked at us. I didn't notice any sort of "look," just looking like you do when you are glancing through a restaurant.

After he passed, Nick told me he thought the man looked sad, and that maybe he wanted to sit where we were sitting. He got up and was going to offer him our table (even though the place was mostly empty). Then he saw the man and his wife had secured another table not too far away. Satisfied that the man had secured an adequate substitute, Nick sat back down. I was chewing, and he took a bite, so we didn't say anything for a moment.

After a minute of silence, Nick swallowed and said, "You know mom, it feels good to do nice things for people."

What do you say to that? I answered "Yes Nick, it really does."

Made mom smile.

Our "SOMETHING BIG"

Did you ever wonder if your kid was listening? Feels good when you find out he has been.

If you've read this space before, you know that I have a little bug about epilepsy. I hate that so many people don't know about it. One friend coined the phrase "awarenessing" for what I do during Epilepsy Awareness Month (November). I spend time and energy on Twitter, Facebook and on blogs, commenting on statuses and sharing statistics, all in an effort to "Awareness" everyone about this awful condition that steals the lives of so many (50,000 Americans each year).

Turns out, Nick has been listening. And our little man has decided he's going to do some awarenessing of his own.

But I've gotten ahead of myself.

Almost three years ago, Nick heard about epilepsy. He knew his cousin Jenny had it, but she lives far away. Then Danny Stanton came into our lives. Danny was a happy, athletic, silly, smart 4 year old... and so was Nick. Now Nick is almost 8, and Danny never will be.  Epilepsy killed Danny. SUDEP (Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy) took Danny one night while he slept in his own bed; the one place you think your little one is safest. When we heard that, our family, like so many families who have learned about Danny, was changed forever.

You see, at that point Nick started to really learn about Epilepsy. He learned that there is no cure. He learned that sometimes you die from it. He learned that he could get it at any time, and no one knows why. For that matter, he learned that dad and mom could get it too. You're never too old or too young for epilepsy to destroy your world. Then the light bulb went on: his cousin Jenny, whom he loves very much, has a form of epilepsy. She could die. 

From that point forward, Nick has wanted to help children with epilepsy. He collected money for Purple Day, even in the freezing cold. He gave more than half of his birthday gifts to Help the ELF, an organization that donates seizure-safe toys to local children's hospitals with neurology units. Last year he donated his "sharing money," in nickles, dimes, quarters and crumpled dollar bills, to the Danny Did Foundation (named for Danny Stanton). He has participated in Buzz Cuts, Basketball Clinics and Bake Sales for Danny.

But now, almost-8-year-old Nick is ready to do his own thing. He doesn't bake and he isn't crazy about basketball. He'd rather his hair grow long these days, and will skip Buzz Cuts if mom and dad let him (not gonna happen). Now Nick is old enough to know what HE wants to do.

If you know Nick at all, you know what I'm about to say. Nick LOVES hockey.

When he isn't skating, he's counting the days until he is going to the rink. Once, when informed that even the Chicago Blackhawks take a day off to rest once in a while, he looked puzzled and asked, "But why would they EVER do that?"

So Nick has decided what he wants to do this summer. He wants to help the Danny Did Foundation, but he wants to do it HIS way. He knows that the Danny Did Foundation helps children. They buy seizure detection monitors for people who cannot afford them. They print information for parents so that no one else is devastated by SUDEP. And the Stanton Family and the Danny Did Foundation have taught Nick something else important: Enjoy Life. He knows that this is what Danny did every day. By skating as much as he can where ever and when ever he can this summer, Nick will be really enjoying life, just like Danny did.

So this summer, Nick will skate for Danny. Specifically, Nick will skate 100 miles for the Danny Did Foundation.

Round and round; one lap at a time; one mile after another; in five mile increments; Nick will skate 1000 laps around NHL size rinks to complete his goal of 100 miles (50 forwards and 50 backwards). He will do it any time, and at any rink that will let him. His goal is to bring Danny's message to 20 different rinks around Illinois.

Nick wants you to take this 100 mile journey with him.

Please support Nick as he supports the Danny Did Foundation.  Check back often to see where and when Nick will be skating. Please come. Learn about Danny, and cheer for the little boy who wants to teach you about epilepsy.