Lifeblood

I don't talk about my kids much on here. After all, there are lots of blogs that do a much better job of detailing the ups and downs of parenting. But for those who do not know I have two boys. T is seven and no that does not stand for Travis Junior. His name is much weirder than that. And Z (strange name as well) is five. As seems to be the case with most siblings the two are as different as ... Night and day? Oil and water? Nope. Just because I'm switching from my writing hat to my parenting hat for this post doesn't mean I'm stooping to cliched phrases. So, they are as different as ...

Water and Ice.

Yeah, yeah I know. Water and ice are the exact same thing in different forms. Well so are my kids. They're both little boys. They're both the offspring of me and my wife. They're both both cute as all get out if I do say so myself. But that's where the similarities end.

T, like water is fluid, graceful and always moving. Like the liquid form of H2O, he tends to choose the path of least resistance. Sure he can be destructive at time, but for the most part he is tranquil although a bit needy at times. he loves to be the center of attention and gambling to get it. Karaoke, no problem. Being the only boy in tap and ballet. Never has fazed him. Now he's decided that he'd like to act in a play or something. And you know what he'll be able to do it just as certain as water flows downhill.

Z is the harsher element. If he were an adult some might describe him as having an icy personality. He talks only when he want to and then only says what is on his mind. He is content to sit in one place for hours. But give him a crack and he'll worm himself in. He especially likes to torment his brother and he tries to break part that small crack and turn it into a full blown fight. But he is a studious observer of people and things. The questions and comments he comes up with floors me. His attention to detail will make him a great writer should he choose to go that direction. In many ways he is an easier child to care for than his brother because he is so fiercely independent and determined to do things for himself, but he also has a stubborn streak and temper that he most assuredly inherited from his mother. ;)

Why am I pondering and pontificating all of this? Because of the new car.

You see in the old room to waste SUV the boys were a bit farther back. Sure they bickered and carried on but they couldn't really reach each other since the second row also had bucket seats. In the new car they fight constantly;y and they can reach each other to inflict actual damage. And all of this takes place only a few feet behind my head. Last night as we went about town showing the car off I thought, This is going to be the death of me. My head started pounding and by the time I got home my nerves were rattling like a tin box full of marbles.

But parenting is never as bad as it seems in the worst moments. Once we got home and things settled down The boys reeled me back in with their charm, wit, and tender innocence.

I sat down on the ouch, turned on the Steelers - Jaguar playoff game and the boys sat down beside me.

"You like football, huh dad." Said T.
"Uh, huh"
"Me too." He snuggled a bit closer. "You now why?"
Me : "No, why?"
"Because you do."

Now how could I stay mad after that? I had spent the last several hours getting after them constantly, but they didn't care.

Then at halftime, I started flipping through the channels. I come to one of the many ESPNs and they are showing figure skating. Z groans and says, "Not this. I don't want to watch skating."
Me: "You don't like skating?"
Z : "Not the pretty kind. I just like hockey. It's much more better."

Ahhh ... that's my boy.

I wouldn't trade either of them for all the gold in the world or a million dollar book deal.