Life is pretty busy, not just these days, but all days. Waking up each morning with the goal of having three boys fed, dressed, cleaned, and out the door by 7:30 each morning leaves little time for anything else. Once we get home from school, we immediately start homework, with Tucker and Tanner doing totally different things, which, keeps my brain and ears pretty occupied. Then it's on to supper, laundry, referreeing the afternoon activities, and on to baseball/football practices and games. I'm not complaining, i love my life; i'm just saying that when i stop and think about it, I do alot and sometimes don't realize what's going on around me.
A couple of days ago, Tate went down for a nap and I headed to the back deck, ready to relax and take in some sunshine. The big boys were playing with some friends in the woods,close enough that i could make out most of their conversation. With no i-pod, no magazine, and no cell phone, i was privy to their world. They had no idea I was even paying attention to them, but within minutes, I had this awesome glimpse into their world AND into them.
I guess what first got my attention was Tanner calling for a time-out. "I gotta go to the bathroom!" Tucker's unsympathetic response: "Just go in the woods!" And I never saw him come into the house, so I guess we'll just leave that one alone. Well, after that I was all ears. I love to hear them play, army this time. Fake battles mixed in with a 3rd graders knowledge of WWII and Vietnam. Team work and camaraderie ensued as each pair of boys attacked the others and protected their own men at the same time. THIS is why i don't want them watching TV! I kept listening until Daddy brought the no-longer-sleeping baby out to me--my cover was busted, but it lasted long enough to get me thinking.
Between Tate's babbling, Daddy's cell phones (yes, i said phones!), and my constant mothering (not nagging, mothering), Tucker and Tanner mange to keep the conversations flowing. And it's safe to say there's no telling what one might hear at my house or in my van. The tooth fairy came last night and Tanner was eyeing his dollars, so he informed me that Washington didn't smile for his picture on the dollar bill because if he opened his mouth his fossil teeth would fall out. You're right! I said. Gotta watch those "fossil" teeth. We've also had in depth conversations that included Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby and what I would do if I were, say, trapped in a coal mine with a one-armed ghost. Would I run? would I fight? Ooh, they go straight to the tough questions.
It's not always the cute stuff that I hear if I really listen. Too often, I've heard the remark, "Why do we have to brush teeth? It's not even a school day!" Or "Mom, it doesn't matter if I wore it yesterday. It's still clean." Then there are the more frightening things I hear. "Mom, what would happen if Tate ate cat food?" I err on the side of caution and don't assume it's just a hypothetical question.
Perhaps most exciting and disturbing are their plans for the future. They both have plans to watch Freddy vs. Jason when they turn PG-13. Umm, as soon as they get their driver's licenses they have plans to buy a motorcycle and a Mustang, the kind that make really loud noises when they go by. Here's hoping they change the legal driving age to 20!!! And as he places me in handcuffs and under arrest, one informs me he wants to be a policeman when he grows up. Umm, the kind who get shot by angry drug dealers or the ones who sit at desks? Please say the ones who sit at desks!!!! Another can't wait until he's old enough to join the Army and fly planes and fight like Raif and Danny do in Pearl Harbor. Yikes! I pray that by then peace breaks out across the world. Not too long ago, their conversations were about salamanders in the bathtub and yellow and red dump trucks. I'm getting old and so are they.
I'll continue to listen, but I suspect what i'll hear more than anything is a whisper saying, "slow down. You're growing up too fast!" And because they're boys, they won't listen.
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