Fiona was supposed to clean her room this weekend. Therefore, of course, she began writing a new story while 'confined' to her room. I asked her to let me publish it in my blog, but she was very firm with me, "Not until it's finished." I can't stand waiting! Yes, I think it's fabulous so far. So, so cute and well done! I totally think it could fly as a real young girl's book (or at least the beginning), with a little help on spelling and grammar--but leaving the content almost virtually as is. I can't wait to share it. And...I'm even a little intimidated. My EIGHT-year-old can write like that??? I'm about ready to hang up my own author's cap in deference, I swear!
So, my enthusiasm was pretty effusive. Alex listened to her story so far, and he was pretty gracious about it, but shortly afterwards, almost completely unprovoked (I was talking about scheduling), he told me, "You're not going to control my life!"
A bit later, I was saying how I avoided thinking about student loan and interests as much as possible, as I get so depressed when I do, to which he responded, "and you're already depressed enough!" Ouch!
Also, in that same conversation, I was talking about the financial benefits of him living at home through college and paying tuition with the Hope Grant and scholarships (to avoid our student loan nightmare), when he informed me that he was planning on living in a dorm--I shouldn't worry, as he plans to cover it with scholarships.
Boy, I was like, "Perfect! That's quite alright with me!" Geesh, like I'm dying to cater to his butt for an extra many years? I mean, he is a perfect sweetheart most of the time, but he's messy and I have to deal with his food and dishes and all... but, yeah, I'd be happy to let him stay here as long as he wants to. I love my wonderful little guy to pieces.
But, wow, I was a bit blindsided by his new little defiant, snippy tone with me. Yes, I was being perfectly sweet to him. I don't know where all that came from! Except...I was wondering about whether his feelings had been hurt by my overt enthusiasm for Fiona's writing. I certainly didn't have that for his.
So, I was contemplating this and went up to speak to him, explaining how proud I was of him writing his little book/screenplay and how it was just so completely not my genre. I think Tron is boring and comic books are boring--so I just am not his target audience. I just wanted to make sure I hadn't hurt his feelings by my enthusiasm for Fiona's writing, which is much more 'girly' and to my taste.
Alex replied, "Look, I know my writing's good. My friends think it's awesome. Honestly, Mom, what annoys me more than anything is this conversation."
OMG! I was flabbergasted. Can you believe that? From my sweet, sweet boy? OUCH again! Yes, by the time he's college-age, I may very well be shoving the fellow into his dorm-room, brushing my hands off with satisfaction and saying, "Good Riddance!" Grr!
I related these conversations to Michael, and he said, "That's your son, hitting where it hurts," though I think the tone of this very comment might beg to differ who's influence that is, right?
Fiona's noted Alex's 'crankiness' for a while, too, and she's asked me if we can make his new 'hormones' go away. If only! And this is only a hint of what's to come...
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