My Boy

Tommy was a late reader, so this makes me very, very, very happy! When he was in Kindergarten, his teacher was assessing him on his letter-sound recognition, and after pointing at a few, with nothing but puzzlement and denials from Tommy, he finally looked are her and said, "I don't know any of these noises!" That just tickled her to death. I was....less gleeful.

But she was right. It's impossible not to giggle when that kid gets going. He so original, I just love it. The other night I looked at him, and I just had to ask, "Did you go to school like that?"

"Yep," he said, walking away, completely non-plussed. He was wearing, for the record, a pair of brown pants that had been cut (and subsequently frayed, a la Huck Finn) by me in preparation for turning them into shorts. The raw edge hit him at about mid-calf. The rest of his ensemble included shoes without socks, a cowlick, and an inside-out striped polo shirt. I asked if he had noticed that his shirt was inside out. Did not notice. Also, did not care. We're lucky the school didn't call the police.

He also has been telling me lately that when he grows up, he's going to have 6 kids...5 boys and 1 girl, named Mia. This, I actually believe. He LOVES kids. Always has. Wanted us to have about six, actually, but that's....no. Yesterday, on the way to school, he asked me where babies come from. I'm sure there's some technical response I should have prepared (he's nine now, and bound to ask) but instead, I just told him that you have to grow up, and fall in love, and then you get married (couldn't resist!) and put all of your love in one place. That's called a "baby".

He looked down and said, "Well, then you had to take half that love to make Scotty."

"Oh, never!" I said. "When we made you, it made even MORE love. Loving you made so much extra love, we had enough to make a whole other person. That's how we got Scotty." That seeemed to satsify.

I've always thought he would make a great teacher, too. Math, I think, as he is a math genius, I do not exaggerate, but he also leans toward history. Good for you, son, can't stand it myself. Here he is teaching me to read music and play drums. Apparently, I need to practice this section.