"My Mom is the Best Because..."
When I picked Daniel up at school today, I glanced at the blackboard where I noticed today's journal topic for the first graders: "My mom is the best because...."
What mother could resist such temptation? Daniel had brought home his big notebook; while I was helping him with his homework, I flipped idly through the pages until I found today's entry. Here it is, with spelling corrected, but otherwise presented verbatim:
My mom is the best because she lets me play on the computer. Games Like K'nex, Lego Island and stuff like Minesweeper, Hearts and Freecell. She lets me play for 20 minutes. I love the computer so much I'll marry it. I can play Tonka Construction, Tonka Garage and Tonka Search and Rescue. I think the computer is so cool. I love it. That's why my mom is so good.
Doesn't that just warm your heart?
My first impulse was to laugh. My second was to feel hurt. Unfortunately, my second impulse overpowered my first.
"Is that all he thinks of me?" I asked Tab. "Simply as the gatekeeper to the computer? What about all the other stuff I do for him: the hugs, the kisses, the hot meals, the books I've read until my throat is hoarse?"
Tab was unsympathetic. "Hey, if you read other people's journals, you might not like what you find." Tab hasn't always appreciated how he's been portrayed here in Jabberwocky. Actually, I think he was enjoying the irony. He often claims that I love the computer more than I do him. He's not always joking, either.
Later this evening, Tab caught me still pouting. "You know, if you think about it, it's really a compliment. He sees you as the keeper of the computer. You know how to do all this really cool stuff, and he wants to learn how to do it, too."
In the words of Daniel: Yeah, right.
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