The passage of time in our house sometimes escapes us. Most days are very similar. I process food, make dinner and sometimes bread, clean up from the previous day, help The Barracuda with his school work. Jules comes home, we have some family time and relax, dinner, quiet time for The Barracuda to play and parents to work. The weather will shift with the seasons, but we don't really celebrate holidays and we backpack most of the year. In general it all just rolls on in a rather harmonious and generally idyllic way. All of this has lulled Jules and I into the happy ease of thinking our little family would always stay the same. Unfortunately, kids have a much different idea.
The Barracuda is no longer a boy; he is a full blown kid. I don't exactly know why we thought time would hold still, nor do I understand exactly how much freedom to actually give him, but he is making his own way without me at this point. Luckily, I still get to come along for the ride.
My job appears to be helping him to understand the social nuisances of friends and being a "popular kid," applying first aid to his various open wounds, and lacing together the intense fascinations he has with various school subjects into cohesive thoughts. I have been instructed to take the "ee"s of the ends of words such as tummy, potty, jammies, and the like. They are now stomach, rest room, and bed clothes. My parental role of guidance is in full swing. Unlike before, I'm much less freaked out about it now.
Now I can marvel at how good he has become with his BB gun and the quarter sized circle filled with little holes and no fear he will shoot his eye out (or the dog). I get to answer questions about his girlfriend (at 6!) and help him learn to dance and roller skate so that he can impress her. Smiling at the Aha! Moments in school has become for frequent and there is significantly less badgering. Regularly, he now can come up with an equally valid, easily understood explanation to solve math problems that is completely different than my way. Often times he can answer questions in Spanish without much help from me, and even correct me at times. He can read books all by himself for information he is interested in and spend hours in his room playing with Erector sets and Legos. He still tends to loose all conscious thought when playing with his male friends (do men ever grow out of that?) and is trying tirelessly to figure out just how much attitude he can get away with.
3 thoughts:
Happy sigh...
A 22 rifle, wow...lucky young man. One of my first rifles was a black powder muzzleloader...now that was kind of fun and still have it. Perhaps I will show the grandson how to use it when he is a tad older and can actually hold it up to his shoulder.
I have always thought that it is the children that have a better understanding about things like guns, driving, or even girls that end up with less problems. I think it is the ones that are never taught or are "protected" against such things that end up with issues.
He's so cute! It must be a little hard to see your baby grow up, even though you are proud of the person he is becoming. (And it's your job to make yourself unnecessary.)
I can't imagine my 2 and 3 year old boys ever growing up, but I know that day will come before I know it.
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