Friday, July 14, 2006

Conversations with Adam in the car

In the car, you can have very frank and intense conversations because you are relegated to sit with one another but yet not required to have eye contact. It is the one place where you can be sure to have your kid's attention because they can't run away. Many people have noticed this phenomenon, as I've heard about this on WGBH Morning Stories as well as Mommycast (not that my whole world centers on podcasts or anything).

So one day driving Adam to and from soccer (yes the cliché soccer mom), we had a conversation about school and college. I told him that he would be going to college and probably live there (make it a fact now so that he doesn't get any ideas otherwise). He was extremely alarmed about living away from home because he said he would miss me. I replied that it was extremely sweet of him to think so, but when the time came, he would probably want to live away from home. He was adamant about missing me and having me live with him at college, so I told him that I would remind him that he felt this way when he turns 18. Such a sweet sentiment from a 5-year-old, I was really touched.

Last week as I was driving him to ice skating lessons, we had another funny conversation.

Mom: Adam, what are you doing?
Adam: I'm watching TV in my brain.
Mom: What are you watching?
Adam: The Simpsons. What are you watching?
Mom: Well, I'm watching the road because I have to drive. Actually I'm singing to myself "Thumpity thump thump, thumpity thump thump, over the hills we go" because we just went over that bumpy part and we are going to ice skating lessons so it reminded me of wintertime. "Thumpity thump thump..."
Adam: Stop it Mom!

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

At a very young age, my daughter Kimberly was the type of kid who was very taken back by simplicity and the Amish lifestyle in particular.

She always told me she would never drive a car and did not want to live in a city, she did not want a TV and she wanted a very simple lifestyle.

I kept trying to convince her that some of the advances humans have made are not all wastful and excessive, and that they help with the general progress of mankind and in fact the planet.

As she grew she never really changed her interest in things like TV, but she slowly started to not only accept new technologies...but get excited about them.

She really got turned on to computers, and had a web page at a very early age. (I helped her edit it, but she was constantly wanting to update the content)

She was a big user of email, and then she was actually the first in the house to start a Journal. (and of course....she quickly learned that the wanted to drive in a big way and went for her drivers test only days after she was old enough)

I know she has not finished developing and growing....none of us has....but so far, I am very proud of the choices sha has made and the values she has decided are important to her.

Kids are great.....being a parent is great. This all makes life worth living...and thank goodness for our brains because these kind of memories will be the one's we will enjoy until we draw out last breath.

Anonymous said...

I have had so many wonderful conversations in the car with my children. I didn't want a dvd player in my new car because I feared this would take away the last frontier where I have my children's undivided attention. For example, my 7 year old son recently told me he speaks to his future self. When I asked what his future self looked like, he said he couldn't tell me because it would jeopardize the space/time continuum. I'm so glad I asked!