The Light of a New Year

As twilight settled on the evening of the 31st, I lit two luminaries to light the path for the new year.  They burned brightly through the night as T, JT, and I played card games, listened to a playlist of music curated by the boy, and laughed together.

The laughter was especially nice.  

As T and I prepared to climb the stairs and tuck into bed, JT told us that if someone had told him at the start of the year that 2020’s last day would be spend in our company instead of with his friends, he would not have embraced that news.  Then he told us that the evening felt good and right; that’s he’d had a good time with is and wouldn’t have spent it any other way.

In a 2020 that brought fear and uncertainty, that found the three of us being cooped up for months and occasionally feeling a little too close with one another, my son was on the mark in that observation.  In this year of so much loss, I will be forever glad of the extra time to watch him grow up far more than just one year signifies.  The last night of 2020 was a good one for counting my blessings as we looked to the light.

Gems of Wisdom

One of the most useful features of living with a child is the absolute frankness with which they evaluate the world.  Diplomacy and subtlety are not aspirations for the under 12 crowd.  Sometimes that can be difficult.  For example, my father tells a story about a six year old me rushing into my grandmother's house and announcing, "Daddy says that lamp is damned ugly."  True, but not helpful to the cause of family harmony.

JT regularly shares his wisdom with me and my compulsive over-sharing ensures that I can no longer keep it to myself.  Thus I present the first in an occasional entry that I'll call JT's wisdom. 

Last night, while we were at the supper table, my ten year old announced, "A sweaty crotch is not good." While I might prefer not to assess this situation over a meal,  it's hard to argue with his conclusion.