HOW A DISPUTE BETWEEN THE BOYS HELPED TO REMIND ME OF THE JOYS OF PARENTHOOD.

A dispute ...Reminding me of the joys of parenthood ...How?

Well I’ll explain, you see as anyone with young children will tell you, from when they are first born you are their entire world and it is an amazing feeling.  Tiring, draining, exhausting to the point where you can barely function at times but so rewarding you can’t imagine the time before when they weren’t there, and at this time impressing them is easy, the slightest thing makes them laugh and they look on you like you own the moon, but eventually they get friends, go to school and grow up and know that you are not a God who owns the moon but a mortal like them who makes mistakes and is just fumbling through life.  When they’re young they have no problem telling you they love you and everything about their day but eventually they stop, they don’t tell you about their friends about what they’re up to and communication becomes, shall we say problematic.

BUT, sometimes even when they’re older things happen that remind you of those magical times when they were younger, that show you just how much you mean to them, and sometimes these these things occur in unusual ways, for example:

Zoe was going out with friends one night and it left me and Ethan inside to watch a film and have a bit of a boys night, NOW, like I said as he now makes the transition from boyhood to manhood I wanted to show him how far I thought he had come by watching a film that was adult in theme (not that way!) to show his advancing maturity, and, after providing him with a selection, he opted for Quentin Tarentino’s powerhouse masterpiece “PULP FICTION”.

To say we had a great night watching it would be an understatement and watching it with someone who GOT IT made it all the richer an experience, as it made it feel like I was watching it for the first time myself and with so many good moments it’s hard to pick favourites, for me it’s 

“But I’m trying, Ringo ...I’m trying REAL hard to be the shepherd!” 

Now for Ethan it was “SAY WHAT AGAIN, I DARE YOU, I DOUBLE DARE YOU, MOTHER F***ER!”  He really liked this line at the end of a superb exchange that also included “THEY SPEAK ENGLISH IN WHAT?  ENGLISH, DO YOU SPEAK IT, MOTHER F***ER!” but like I said it was the “DOUBLE DARE YOU” line he really enjoyed the most and promptly walked around quoting this line randomly afterwards without the swearing when younger ears were around.

So therefore you can imagine just how shocked he was when he was in the kitchen with his Mum and Riley and he said “SAY WHAT AGAIN, I DARE YOU...” only to have Riley finish the line and say “I DOUBLE DARE YOU!”

Now needless to say Ethan was rather peeved by this.  He and I had watched the film together as it was a way of me saying to him that I recognised he was growing up only to have Riley steal his moment.  How could a seven year old know of such a line from what is a very adult film?  Ethan had to know how?

“How do you know that line?” Ethan asked, perplexed.

“Daddy showed me?” Riley stated, only for Ethan to be more dumbfounded.

Now I should at this stage state that for the record I had not showed Riley “PULP FICTION”.  What Riley was referring to was this at 55 seconds in.

So why did this bring back the joy of being a parent?  Well I’ll tell you, you see your kids  stop telling you they love you and they stop being communicative but every now and then they do still show you they care providing you don’t stop trying for them.  If you keep giving them your time, showing them you care and treating them well, then they will tell you they love you, even if I love you actually comes out as “I DOUBLE DARE YOU, MOTHER F***ER!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czb4jn5y94g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZkqC4Lz8dU