Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall…

Lewis was getting ready for school and I told him he needed to brush his hair. He went into the bathroom and yelled out that he couldn’t find a hairbrush. I yelled back and told him to look, there was more than one in there. At least a full 10 seconds later, Lewey declared there were no hairbrushes so I gave up and, with a big sigh, went into the bathroom to find a brush for him. As I entered, he said:

“How are you of all people out of hairbrushes?”

The first response that popped into my head was, “How are you, of all people, such a smart ass.” But before I could make that comment kid friendly, I looked up and caught my refection in the mirror. Mystery solved…

Wedded Bliss

Lewis cannot stand my favorite O’Fallon restaurant – La Parilla.  The last time we went, I failed to tell him where we were eating, as I didn’t want to hear “Why do we have to go there?” 100 times in the car. I thought maybe he would play it cool if I made it all the way to the Mexican joint. I was wrong. I pulled into the parking lot and we got out of the car ,and then Lewey realized where we were.

“What? Why did you choose this place?” he asked.

“Lewis, we went to your favorite restaurant last time. It’s my turn.”

Lewey became visibly irritated, shook his head and replied, “We finally get a night out and you take me here.”

I looked at him in disbelief and said, “People wonder why I’m not married but really, I am. And my husband is 12.”

Spam-a-Lot

Lewis and I went to dinner at Thips tonight – it’s our favorite thai restaurant and a family tradition for us. While we were waiting for our food and chatting, Lewey asked me if he could have an inexpensive device to walk around with on which he could listen to all of his favorite songs. I said,”What about using your iPhone?”

Lewey said, “I don’t want to do that. I want to download a lot of songs and one of them might sperm everything.”

Half gasping, half choking, I replied, “I think you mean it might spam everything.”

Stay in the Game

This memory came up in conversation today:

When Lewis was about 7, we were driving to St. Louis and a sad song came on the radio. The song made me cry and Lewey asked why I was so sad. I told him I wasn’t sad, the song on the radio was just making me teary.

“Why don’t you turn it off then?” he asked.

So I did.  So simple.

In the same year came another profound lesson from my son.  Lewey was playing basketball with a team and he had gotten hurt during a game. He told me after that he had wanted to cry but was worried about what people might think. I wasn’t completely sure how to handle the situation, but I told him that he shouldn’t be afraid of, or ashamed of, his tears. If he was hurt and needed to cry, it was ok. He replied:

“Yeah, but what if coach sees me crying and makes me sit on the bench? Then I won’t get to play.”

The lesson he channeled for me? Don’t let tears stop you from “being in the game.”

Did the Apple Even Fall?

For those that think Lewey is just like his father, here’s a story that will prove I had something to do with his making:

Lewey, Vida and I stayed at Susan’s house the other night so that I could take her to the airport early AM. After dinner, we settled into dessert and talking and Lewey asked if we were spending the night.

“Of course we are!” I replied. “Vida is here, I packed us a bag and it’s already really late.”

“Awesome! I was hoping we were,” said Lewey.

Susan chimed in,”That’s great but there will be something really sad when you wake up.” I smiled because I knew where she was going with this.

Lewey asked, “What’s that?”

“I won’t be here,” Susan told him.

He looked at her with big eyes, through long eyelashes, and said, “Then I won’t wake up.”

That’s what I call a mac daddy player pimp line. Hellz yeah…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cocktail

Lewis and I were driving and he asked me why I no longer bartend. We talked about it and he said:

“I bet you were the greatest bartender. You have the personality for it. You talk to everyone.  But this writing thing. I don’t know. I don’t think you’re gonna be very good at it.”

Thanks?

The Visitor

Lew, Lewey and I went to a very good friend of mine’s house for a 4th of July BBQ yesterday. They have a pool and Lewey jumped right in, eager to swim. However, he soon got bored and begged us to join him. Lew swam for a little while and then got out of the pool to eat. Lewey began asking me over and over to swim and I finally took him aside and said, “Lewis, I can’t swim right now.”

“Yes you can,” he said. “You are choosing not to swim.”

“That’s not true,” I answered. “Right now is not a good time for me and I need you to stop asking me in front of everyone.”

“Why can’t you swim, then?” he asked.

I was a little uncomfortable but thought the truth would be the best response.

“You know how every month, women go through something and they don’t feel good for awhile? Their stomach hurts, and stuff like that?”

Lewey said, “So you’re on your period?”

I was really surprised that a) he knew that term and b) he just threw it on out there like that, but since I opened the door, I knew I had to walk right through it.

“Yes, Lewis, at this time, I am on my period.”

Lewey looked at me and said: ”It seems like you’re on it every day.”

So Proud

Lew and I took Lewey to Pridefest in St. Louis this past weekend, but apparently we forgot to tell Lewis the festival we were at was actually Pride!  One of the best things about Lewey is that, with all of the diverse people around us, he didn’t question where we were or what we were doing. We were at the park and there was some kind of festival going on around us as far as he was concerned.  That is, until he saw a man in a rainbow bikini.  Then Lewis turned to me and said, “Uncle Denny should be here. This seems like his kinda party!”

Happy Pride, everyone. Our family was proud to be a part of the celebration.

Crazy Like a Fox

My son and one of his best friends were talking about video games and I heard Lewey say that he couldn’t wait to be a grown up because then he could play video games whenever he wanted. I interuppted and told them that they better not still play video games all the time when they were older because they would have a hard time getting dates. Lewis’ best bud Brayden said:

“We’ll just tell them we don’t play video games and play when they don’t know.”

I told him that sounded like a good idea and then Lewis chimed in.

“We’re only gonna do that if the girls are as hot as Megan Fox.”

I almost choked. I had never heard my son talk about girls before and I had never heard him use the word “hot” to decribe a girl and I had certainly never heard him reference Megan Fox.

“You think Megan Fox is hot?” I asked, weakly.

“Well, she was…until she got old,” he replied.

I almost choked a second time.

MJ

When Michael Jackson passed away, I took it very, very hard.  I’m usually an emotional person, but this time I recognized that heavy feeling in my chest as mourning. It should not have surprised me – I have listened to his music daily since the age of 11. His music made me happy, I loved to watch him dance – he was a part of my life. So I cried and I cried and I couldn’t watch all the impromptu documentaries nor could I watch the funeral.

Three weeks after his death, I was in my car on my way to pick Lewis up from school when a Michael Jackson song came on the radio. I was unable to stop the tears, and then the crying, that followed. I turned the song off and wiped my eyes as best I could when I arrived at my son’s school. Lewis got into the car, took one look at me and said, “Is it Michael again?”

He knows me too well.

On a wonderful note, I recently went to Powell Symphony Hall to hear the SLSO play the music of Michael Jackson with my high school bestie! Amy and I had a GREAT time (there were minimal tears on my part).