YOU'RE SO OLD . . .

One of my mom's favorite stories to tell was about my oldest son, T. He was (and still is) a precocious little guy . . . very smart, very observant, and very articulate . . . He was fun to have surprisingly deep conversations with at a very early age.


Once we were visiting when he was about three years old, and she took him somewhere in the car, just the two of them. This was back in the days when child safety seats were new and simply a good idea, not mandated by law, and so he was seatbelted in to the front seat, next to her. My mom (his gramma) was thoroughly enjoying having a conversation with him (I cannot remember what it was about) but she was amazed and very flattered that he continued to listen to her very intently, his eyes never leaving her face as she drove and talked. This went on for about fifteen minutes (a VERY long time for a three year old) and in a lull in the conversation, he suddenly said "gramma, you are soooooo old, I bet you die in a minute".


LOL . . . all the time she thought he was listening to her intently, taking her words to heart, he was merely studying her wrinkles . . . and his conclusion? She was due to drop over any minute . . .


She laughed whole heartedly every time she told this story . . . enjoying the blunt innocence of young children (they simply tell it like they see it) and laughing at herself . . . that she was so involved with thinking she was imparting the wisdom of the ages into his young, fertile mind, while in reality he may not have heard or registered a single word she said . . .


She was not the least bit insulted by his words . . . She had spent far too much time around young children not to be amused and delighted at his skewering her unintended pomposity so thoroughly and quickly . . .


This story has been on my mind the past few days . . .


Sometimes I can remember with such PAINFUL clarity, every single awkward thing I have ever said or done . . . every single fumbling compliment that I have ever tried to pay . . . every single poorly worded comment that was MEANT to be encouraging and uplifting and kind that came out so wrong that I was left breathless and appalled . . .


MAN . . . no matter how well intentioned I have been, there have been a LOT of awkward, fumbling, stupid comments I have made over the years . . .


SIGH . . .


Wouldn't you think that a grown woman with at least adequate social skills who is good hearted and never means to be unkind would have developed more finesse over all these years?!??