My Incredible, Remarkable, Genius Children

Many years ago, I knew a woman who didn't like her kid. I don't remember much about it. I don't even remember if she was a friend of a friend, or a friend of a friend of a friend. But I remember that she had a little girl, and from the time her daughter was a baby, they just didn't like each other. They didn't get along, they weren't interested in each other, they didn't enjoy each other. I didn't have children back then, so I think I just kind of accepted this fact and went on with my life.

The best thing about Tuesday and Thursday, especially Tuesday, which is my longest, most annoying day of the week, is that I get to see E in the middle of the day, and M too, if I'm lucky. E has preschool on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, so at 12:15 I pick her up from her sitter and take her to school, and at 2:50 I pick her up from school and take her back to the sitter, though sometimes on Thursday, if I'm on top of things, we can pick up M and go home. E's sitter lives around the corner from M's school, and M has lunch recess from 12:10-12:30 so if it's not pouring rain or freezing cold, I stop the car by the playground and E and I try to spot M amongst the horde of running, playing kids. Usually we see her but she doesn't see us, so it's like we have a special secret.

The other day, after I picked E up, we stopped to look for M, spotted her sitting on the blacktop with her friends, watched for a moment, and then headed off to school. E was cheerfully chatting away in her carseat in the back seat. She asked me if I wanted her to read in her animal book about the kangaroo, the gorilla, or the crocodile. When I said kangaroo, she started telling me all about the joeys. Then she used some incredible word that I can't remember. She might have said that when the joeys wrestle, they are working out their conflicts, something like that, something you would never expect out of the mouth of a four year old.

Anyway, I was struck once again with how completely remarkable she is. I thought, I should blog about that. Then I thought, no I shouldn't, who on earth cares that E has a genius vocabulary and a remarkable disposition, besides me, S, and maybe the grandparents? Besides, all parents think their kids are incredible, remarkable geniuses and the most entertaining, charming beings that ever walked this earth (except when they aren't).

Then I remembered that woman who didn't like her kid, and I felt so sad for her.