Wonder Land
“Every year of life is so cool!” I heard my almost eight year-old say. I looked up from the cutting board and dinner prep I was working on and saw Azul lying on the couch with the computer. This scene has been played out before, with me cooking and him keeping me company, while also in his own world, doing his own thing. There are so many times I just watch him and wonder what’s going on in his head, asking myself, “What is he thinking about?”
Occasionally he gives me a peek inside and I feel like Alice in a land of awe and wonder, instinctively wanting to investigate and discover all that I can. Many times his conversations have to do with a new computer game and sometimes he shares his perceptions of the world around him.
I asked, “What is Every Year of Life?” I though it was a new Sims or Minecraft server.
“You know, like, living. It’s so cool!”
I started my journey down the rabbit hole as he continued.
“Every year I get bigger and I get to do more things and things change. Like, I was in preschool and at a different school and now I’m not there. And now at Prep I’m not in the Tiny Tots anymore, I’m with the big kids. It’s just so cool. I get to do new things.”
I stood there grinning like a Cheshire cat. After all Azul is right, every year of life is cool. Sometimes we just need to be awakened by the philosophical mind of a child.
Game Of …
Today, is the last day of getting ready for school with my seven year-old and after this morning, I think I’m glad. Like many parents, I am willing to “take one for the team,” if it means encouraging my son’s curiosity, but sometimes I just feel gullible and off my game.
In the bathroom, while I was applying my mascara, mouth stretched to an “O” position and my eyes wide open, Azul said to me, “I’m getting better at karate.”
A nasally “uh, huh,” was all I was able to get out as a response. A standard parental reply when we’re busy and (although many won’t admit it) we just don’t care.
Now, Azul is not registered in karate and I was not aware of any interest, practicing or attempt to improve. I moved on to my lipstick application, oddly moving my mouth to the same place it was before.
“Wanna see?” He kept on.
As soon as the words escaped my mouth, everything turned to slow-motion, “Suuuurrre.” I said, turning toward him.
“Hiii-yaaa!” And I got a karate chop to the arm.
“Ouch! Why did you do that?”
“See, told you I’m getting better.”
With a shrug, he turned and walked away. leaving his opened mouth sensei behind.
So off my game!
The Birds And The Bees
Spring is in the air. The temperature is rising, the birds are singing and the bees are …
“A bee is dying! A bee is dying!” My seven year-old ran in the house in a state of panic. Confused I asked if he could show me what he was talking about. I followed him back outside where we saw this: (Cue porn music now.)
If the bees are a buzzing don’t come a knocking! Well, we knocked or really we pulled out the camera and recorded them, which of course interrupted their special moment. And sorry for the scream.
I explained they were not bees, but actually wasps. That really scared Azul. Then that there were two of them and they weren’t dying but mating. That news terrified him.
Once he removed his hand from his mouth, which had covered it as if he had said something wrong, still wide-eyed, he finally mustered up a reply.
“That’s the most discussing thing I’ve ever seen!”
Ah, Spring.
Carmelina Hart 