Overhead Parenting . . .

My kids are little fonts of wisdom and reflection. When I'm not trying to keep from strangling them, they make me laugh, make me ponder . . . and make me proud.

*****

Son #1 has a girlfriend. He announced the other day. Lizzy. She's Asian (husband is giving thumbs up). She's smart. She's taller than him. He showed me her Facebook. She has pictures of herself that are natural. Real. Silly. His favorite? One where she's blowing her cheeks up like a puffer fish. Forget botox and plastic surgery girls, the guys like you the way you are.

*****

She put a friend quiz post on Facebook. "If you saw Lizzy and she moved to kiss you, would you kiss back?" He responded with a winking smiley face. Sheesh.

*****

I asked him if he was going to change his Facebook status to "In a relationship with Lizzy." He looked at me very seriously and said "I don't need Facebook to tell me I'm in a relationship." Duly noted.

*****

Son #2 is no less deep. We were watching TV today - nothing special, but he spoke up during part of the show, and having been busy with some work, I turned to him and asked him to repeat himself.

He looked at me with his big brown eyes and crooked 7 year old teeth growing in to fill the spots the baby teeth vacated. "Zeyda was funny. And nice. And he was stronger than daddy. He also wore glasses, 'cause he was blind. I liked Zeyda."

"Zeyda" died 2 years ago, when Son #2 was only 5. He got to spend only a couple weeks each year with his grandfather. He had seen him last about 3 weeks before he died. I don't know what made him think of Zeyda tonight. We weren't looking at pictures, and the TV wasn't talking about grandfathers. Maybe he just felt he needed to share a memory.

I looked over at him and rubbed his little 7-year old pot belly. "Zeyda loved you - he was always so proud of his grandsons."

He smiled at me. "I know, mom."

*****

Always a different perspective. Zeyda would have been proud.

Respectfully submitted,

The Wife