Monday, November 19, 2007
And so it begins.
This was the exchange a few nights ago between me and my precious son of 11, apparently the age that BOYS occasionally slip into MEN mode.
Me: Squish over Dude. (I say this every night, always call him Dude, have since he was 15 months and he has not made me stop. Yet. I lay with him before he goes to bed each night and talk for a few minutes, then kiss him goodnight and go downstairs.)
Dude: Ok, Mommy. (He calls me Mommy, Sophie calls me Mama. I love that more than I can say.)
Me: How was your day?
Dude: Good. Ya know, did school stuff hung out with my friends.
Me: You seem to have a lot of friends this year.
Dude. Yeah. (one word answers are a norm.)
Me: Like a lot of friends. You mention lots of different names.
Dude: Yeah.
Me: What are some of your friends' names? (Don't ask, I am just trying to keep the one word replies coming from Mr. Talkative.)
Dude: Oh, I don't know.... Then he begins to list lots of names. Most of which are American Indian, Middle Eastern Indian, African American sounding. (We live in a very international section of Atlanta.)
Me: Wow. That is really cool. Ya know I grew up in like the whitest, white section up North next door to Whitey McWhite White. We had one African American kid in our school. It was a big deal too. I love that you don't even notice skin color. It makes me happy.
Dude: .......
Me: (He must want me to keep talking, cause I am talking very passionately ya know, I truly am excited by this.) Ya know one, day, not now, I'm not saying NOW, but ONE DAY you might have a girlfriend. And you probably won't even notice if she is white or black or Indian or anything. And I just think that is really, really cool. I just love that. I really do. Ya know? Ya know what I mean? Dude?
Dude: .....
Me: Dude?
Dude: "...Huh? What? I went to sleep when you started talking about your feeeeeeelings."
Me: YOU. ARE. SUCH. A BOY. Goodnight!
Dude: AHAHAHAHAHA. I hear him laughing all the way down the stairs. Then, I love you Mommy, even if you do talk about feelings way too much!
And there you have it. Boys to Men. Just. Like. That.
Me: Squish over Dude. (I say this every night, always call him Dude, have since he was 15 months and he has not made me stop. Yet. I lay with him before he goes to bed each night and talk for a few minutes, then kiss him goodnight and go downstairs.)
Dude: Ok, Mommy. (He calls me Mommy, Sophie calls me Mama. I love that more than I can say.)
Me: How was your day?
Dude: Good. Ya know, did school stuff hung out with my friends.
Me: You seem to have a lot of friends this year.
Dude. Yeah. (one word answers are a norm.)
Me: Like a lot of friends. You mention lots of different names.
Dude: Yeah.
Me: What are some of your friends' names? (Don't ask, I am just trying to keep the one word replies coming from Mr. Talkative.)
Dude: Oh, I don't know.... Then he begins to list lots of names. Most of which are American Indian, Middle Eastern Indian, African American sounding. (We live in a very international section of Atlanta.)
Me: Wow. That is really cool. Ya know I grew up in like the whitest, white section up North next door to Whitey McWhite White. We had one African American kid in our school. It was a big deal too. I love that you don't even notice skin color. It makes me happy.
Dude: .......
Me: (He must want me to keep talking, cause I am talking very passionately ya know, I truly am excited by this.) Ya know one, day, not now, I'm not saying NOW, but ONE DAY you might have a girlfriend. And you probably won't even notice if she is white or black or Indian or anything. And I just think that is really, really cool. I just love that. I really do. Ya know? Ya know what I mean? Dude?
Dude: .....
Me: Dude?
Dude: "...Huh? What? I went to sleep when you started talking about your feeeeeeelings."
Me: YOU. ARE. SUCH. A BOY. Goodnight!
Dude: AHAHAHAHAHA. I hear him laughing all the way down the stairs. Then, I love you Mommy, even if you do talk about feelings way too much!
And there you have it. Boys to Men. Just. Like. That.
