My relationship with my 9 yr old son is complicated - I mean I know he loves me, but I just can't figure him out. Take Mother's Day, for example:
1) A few days before the 'Big Day' my son brought home a piñata he had made for Cinco de Mayo and said he was going to paint it and add legs to turn it into a spider for Mother's Day (he thinks I am afraid of spiders).
2) Earlier, that day, I had subbed for my 12 yr old son's class at school and my 9 yr old said he wished I would sub for his class some time (melt my heart).
3) That same evening my husband let me know that our son had asked him earlier that week to help catch a snake to put in our bed for a Mother's Day surprise. ????????????
4) On Sunday, my son presented me with gifts he had made in Cub Scouts - a beaded black spider keychain (which he dangled in front of me hoping to scare me!) and a pretty necklace made of beads and buttons. On the necklace, he included letter beads that spelled out my name and showed me how he had carefully arranged some flower beads to make a neat pattern. And he showed me how it could be overlapped to be worn as a bracelet.
5) Then he told me how he had wanted to make me a mold garden in the shape of a heart.
6) Next, he wanted to make me a special recipe, so I was sent out of the kitchen. My husband supervised the making of zucchini muffins and my son made me an extra special one made in a mini loaf pan with chopped walnuts sprinkled on top with the word 'MOM' spelled out with chocolate chips. It was delicious! He asked me if I could guess the secret ingredient - it was grated orange peel (the recipe had called for grated lemon peel - Aha!).
7) That evening, I interrupted an attempt to short-sheet our bed. He hadn't started yet, but he was so excited, I let him go ahead and do it. At least this time the joke was on Dad!
8) On Monday, he brought home a card from school that said, "Feliz Día De Las Madres. 2011. Tu amas a las arañas!" (Happy Mother's Day. 2011. You love spiders!)
I'm confused with this intermingling of sweetness and pranking. So, I have to wonder what this all means and how we've arrived at this place. Is it all him? Is it something I've done? Is it all the influence of that dastardly book, "101 Things To Do Before You Grow Up (Or before you get too old to enjoy them!)" with its 32 page section on Trickery???
Please excuse me while I go lie down on the couch and contemplate these things!
