Awareness

My Abbie is observant. She notices when teachers are sad, when kids are mean to each other at school, and if it looks like she's being excluded from some kind of celebration somewhere (anywhere).

Abbie can be outspoken. She asks the sad teachers how they're doing, stands up for kids that have been labeled, and reports thoroughly and loudly to her parents if the child-to-fun ratio seems unjust.


Sat. night she attended a high school production of The Ark with Dad, Zach, Sam, and a friend. At it's completion she was ready to return and report. Before I could ask, "How was the play?" she started in, "We saw a very congestive public display of affection when we got in the car tonight."

Like any good mom I responded, "What were they doing in our car?"

She knows what I'm up to, but she's not about to be dissuaded from giving the full scoop. "No-- (she laughs with exasperation) I mean we got in the car, but we saw two teenagers kissing passionately outside of our car."

"Oh." (pause, then with a sly smile) "So how was the play?"

"Mo-o-o-m."

How can she expect to share any juicy gossip tidbits with a dud like that? She's run up against this kind response before. Just when she thinks she's going to deliver a hum-ding-er of a tattle-tale, she gets confronted with a thick, maternal, Brooklyn accent*, "So Whadid He say?"(from On The Town w/ Gene Kelly).

*This is not a tactic from the reputable Dr. Wells --it's one of my own, but I like it.