How to be your age (the edge of 2, 5, 11, and 14).
Edge of 02
Our first confrontation of the day occurred when I attempted to fold his pajamas and he corrected, taking them from my hands. “I do it all myself,” he said. And he did.
He is also big into jewelry. As in: whatever is gaudy, flashy, big, and non-childlike. He seems to understand that wearing this sort of jewelry means that you’re supposed to walk with an extra swagger. He has embraced that too.
He is frequently ready to help; to help in ways that can best be described as enthusiastic and not attached to any specific level of competence or skill. But I’ll take the enthusiasm. The others shall follow.
Edge of 05
He is loving letters, and we had a great time making alphabet characters out of markers. Speaking of markers, he loves making art out of whatever is on hand, and because we have a lot of materials on hand, he has an inexhaustible supply of supplies to make his various sculptures, assemblages, and art pieces with.
Then he might take a short sabbatical to dump a million-gallon container of DUPLO and LEGO pieces out, and embark on the next Gehry-inspired structure with his loyal two-year old assistant.
Then they might take a journey to their outdoor kitchen. A space that is extraordinarily muddy and fantastic, and often makes its way indoors afterwards.
Edge of 11
He’s trying to start a new holiday month henceforth to be known as “January Fool’s Day.” It’s basically April Fool’s Day, but starting three months earlier. And going all month long.
That, he said as he examined the spider inside our house and educated his five-year old brother,
is a common house spider. It’s perfectly harmless. He paused. It’s most likely a common house spider. There’s a slight chance it might be an extremely venomous one. It’ll die if we take it outside, so let’s just leave it alone in here, okay?
I started to say ‘no, you’re not making a sandwich for breakfast and yanking half the refrigerator out in the process,’ but then I figured if he wanted a sandwich bad enough he could write a thoughtful essay convincing me of why he should do so, and…yeah, he got his sandwich.
I love how he still enjoys the PBS Kids show Arthur with his brothers.
Occasionally he’ll get inspired to cook, bake, or make some sort of food, and it is a mesmerizing process to see unfold. Particularly when he is joined by his younger assistants.
Edge of 14
She studies diligently at her desk after we break for the morning, writing, reading, making notes, researching, coming out for questions or hot chocolate or broth or to tackle a brother. Or take one of them on in a Mancala match.
Oh, and yeah, she got a bee in her bonnet, alongside her brother, to make a movie about witch hunts and goats and so forth, and next thing I know I look out in the field and she’s running through the field in a bonnet and dress being chased by a boy and a…goat. My first behind the scenes look at this short thriller underway. I am terrified. And excited.
Yeah. Real goat.
