Storm was puttering around the bedroom today near the box fan that is always in the room when he suddenly turned it on. Now, he's done this before in there and other areas of the house, but when he first started I was really concerned about him putting his fingers in it. And, he hasn't done it for a while. A lazy thought crept into my mind that I should have him shut it off (gee, when did that instant, knee-jerk, "NO!" fade away??) and while it was wondering around my mind, I heard him start talking into the fan. Boy, that sure makes an interesting sound! I smiled, thinking of how he must be enjoying it (I couldn't actually see him from my vantage point) and my mind wandered like it does...
I thought of how *my* mother, first off, would never *allow* us kids to *waste*
electricity like that (it costs *money*, you know!), nor were we allowed to actually turn a fan on by our own decision-if a parent told us to turn it on, we should do so and as quickly as possible-but we were just *children* and couldn't possibly know when it was hot enough to turn the fan on. Then, I felt sad for that child (who really didn't know what she was missing out on) who was so restricted and controlled-yet at the same time, I felt a swelling of happiness and joy that my kids COULD turn on a fan and "ya ya ya ya" into it, squirt bottles of tempura paint all over the porch in swirly, splotchy, bright colors, could borrow one of mama's pots and mix a concoction of ingredients in that mama and that kid went to the store together to specifically buy for that purpose, could get muddy, could share their opinions and true feelings... well, could be free to be who they are. Such an odd mix of feelings and yet... it was *good*.Speaking of that trip to the store... Funny,
how shopping with both boys is an experience to *avoid* at all costs, but with each of them individually... such a great time together! I just love Wyl's sense of humor-he can sure make me laugh!! :~D He's clever and quick and I never know (unless I remember hearing it before-which is rare) if he's made it up or gotten it from a book, magazine, show, etc. We were at Mustard Seed today in the aisle with the free coffee dispensers and went to get himself a cup. There was a couple there (late 40s? early 50s??) and, as usual, Wyl went right up and struck up a conversation about the coffee, which containers were cream and soy milk, the flavors, etc. I was so pleasantly surprised to see and hear the couple treat him as a person!! They didn't talk down to him, look at me in askance, brush him off, etc.! They just chatted with him and when Wyl talked about the flavors Mustard Seed carries, the man thanked him for the information. Not only that, but apparently he went to look for some Hazelnut (which Wyl also likes) and couldn't find it, and came back to our aisle and said something like, "I'm sorry, I guess I didn't go 
to the right place, because I couldn't find the flavors" to Wyl!! I had no idea where they were, not being a coffee drinker, myself, but Wyl said that they were right in the next aisle, so I suggested he go show him where they were. As Wyl was coming back into our aisle, I heard the man thank him and Wyl sing-songed "you're welcome". Either the guy didn't hear him or didn't understand because he made a point of coming back into our aisle and making *sure* he thanked Wyl face-to-face!!! I just wanted to thank HIM! Maybe I should have... I didn't want to make a big deal out of it in front of Wyl, though... So nice, tho', since our experience with how folks treat younger people hasn't been very positive, lately... I think as he gets older (closer to teen years), people get distrustful... :~( That stinks.I just can't explain how much fun Wyl and I have driving to-and-from shopping, and
to a somewhat lesser degree, shopping. It actually struck me today, that some of the silly things I do in the car (cranking up the radio, finding empty parking lots or backroads and swerving the car back-and-forth, "dancing" the car by tapping the breaks to the music, helping Wyl safely hang out the window on slower, back roads or parking lots, etc.) are things MANY teenagers do. But, teenagers are doing them partly because a parent would be horrified or demand they not do it, plus, if its a car full of teens, the driver isn't very experienced-certainly not 20+ years of lots of driving kind of experience! I don't know how that will affect his driving/riding in 8-10 years or so... It just really struck me today. Its so GREAT to be friends with your kids!!!!! ...and I don't think it ever struck me until just now that I AM friends with my kids.......
No comments:
Post a Comment