My Family

I wanted to introduce readers (and there are easily a half dozen of you) to my immediate family. My partner and co-matriarch of the family is "Science Girl." Science Girl grew up nurturing a burning desire to someday have a job where she could wear a white lab coat (not as a fashion statement but as a Scientist) and in her professional life, she has accomplished this. At home, Science Girl reads and follows directions, measures fabric before cutting, subtracts the checks she writes from her bank balance, follows posted speed limits when driving and all sorts of crazy things that seem to me like unnecessary steps in a busy life. I am emotion and she is logic. We're different, and sometimes I find her idiosyncrasies charming, and other times, annoying.

Our oldest boy, "Secret Service," now a teenager, has kept his life private from us since he was small. When Secret Service attended kindergarten, I would come to pick him up and stand outside the door listening to songs sung, books read, art projects completed. When all the children filed out and I was reunited with my son, I'd ask him about his day.

"What'd you do today?"
Secret Service would reply, "Nothing."
Puzzled, I'd continue to inquire. "Did you sing?"
He'd shake his head no.
"I heard singing."
"We didn't sing."
"Did the teacher read a story?"
"Nope."
"Did you do a craft project?"
At this point, Secret Service would give me a look that over the years we took to mean that he'd shared enough.

This trend has continued and over the years, we have had to glean our information from the bulletins that the school publishes, the parent grapevine and teacher conferences. When we don't get up-to-date intelligence, we end up being surprised by what we find. One time we arrived at Secret Service's school play expecting that he was in the chorus and discovered he had a major role.

While our older son spends his time away from us shrouded in mystery, it is refreshing that our younger son, "Sport" is willing to share details about his day. Although our public elementary school claims they are working hard to get students to achieve, Sport denies that much of his time is spent doing Language Arts (that's the fancy term for Reading, Writing, and Spelling) or Math. Instead, Sport's stories about his school day are always about recess. Our son has developed a love and fierce devotion for a playground game called four square, and if colleges were recruiting for four square players or if there were professional four square teams with million dollar signing bonuses, he'd be set. At the end of each school day, Sport captivates us with his colorful stories of competing for the captaincy of a four square team, other students clamoring for a chance to play with him, his heroic efforts to win, the students who he takes under his wing to coach in the art of the game. Many stories are told with instant re-play moves acted out for dramatic effect.

Sometimes, I badger him for additional information about his day. Smiling and with good cheer, Sport is also willing to re-enact his moves on the flag football and basketball courts.