A Royal Something
This morning Azul said to me, “I’m pretty much treated like royalty.” Whoa — talk about out of the blue. Azul and I have about a twenty minute morning commute on the way to school. The conversations we share at this time are some if the best times we have all day, but I wasn’t expecting that.
Blinking my eyes and shaking my head, trying to understand why and what I just heard, I looked at him through my child rearview mirror. I wanted to watch him explain this. I replied, “You what?” He paused for a moment, and although he wasn’t talking, I could hear him thinking.
Finally he spoke up again, “Royalty. I don’t do anything. You do all the work. You drive, cook and set the table.” Appreciating the compliment, I said, “Thanks for recognizing that, my sweet boy!” I couldn’t help but think, Good for me. I am raising a very considerate boy who will turn in to a man who can recognize when things are done for him and not just assume that people are going to serve him, and then be able to appreciate it as well. Nice.
The euphoric thought bubble floating above my head busted when he followed up with, “It’s time I pay you off.” With a sigh and a smile on my face I asked, “Yeah, with what, cold hard cash?”
“No,” he said. “With money. I’ll give you 3 dollars.”
“Wow!” was my immediate response, and not only for the dollar amount, but for the transition from appreciated mom to paid servant. With pride and conviction he informed me, “I know it takes 4 or 5 quarters to make a dollar, I’ll give you that!”
Resigned and not sure if I just got a pay cut, I said, “Okay, I’ll take it.”
Out of Gas…Again
Oh my, no more dirty car this year! That was what I thought when I decided to declare a resolution this year. Here is a status update:
This is what my car looks like three months in to 2014. It is worse! Now I resolve to never making any more New Year’s Resolutions.
Out of Gas… (Original post from December 2013)
I know this is the time of the year to reevaluate your life, nit pick your misgivings and come up with a resolution that will change your life for the better. Whatever! I have never been a big fan of New Year Resolutions; I usually try to just keep my expectations fairly low, it seems to work for me, but my five year-old was able to glaringly point out where I need to improve.
My car stinks! And that was exactly what I said to Azul this afternoon. To be fair, I have always had a dirty car, even before Azul, but no doubt the trash has grown exponentially since his birth.
I am a true Virgo and have a deep-seated need to straighten things out — things don’t need to be super clean, just in order. My car is the exception, the one place I can let loose. So, I told my five year-old, “My car stinks!” And he replied, “Maybe it cuz I tooted in there!” In a state of amazement I then said, “You tooted in my car?” Without a second thought he said, “Yes.” I am not sure why I continued the conversation at this point, and come to think of it, I’m not sure why I do half the things I do now as a parent, but I said, “I didn’t hear it.” Immediately his response was, “Toots are quiet.” I put my head in my hands, shaking left to right, thinking, Oh my, no more dirty car this year!
Like Comparing Melons to Oranges
I spend a lot of time with my five year-old son and as a result, I feel we are kind of in sync with each other. It’s something that happens in all relationships, the more time you spend with someone the more you know exactly what they are talking about. Something magical happens, when you can finish each other’s sentences and an extended preface to a conversation is no longer needed.
Today, out of nowhere, Azul said to me, “If you give a pig a melon it will last 1 day, if you give a pig an orange it will last 100 days!” The what, the what?! I didn’t even know where to begin to be able to respond to that. But, I did wonder if I sound like that to him sometimes when I’m talking. Magic huh?
Carmelina Hart 