Shhh, the Baby's Sleeping

All is quiet. The bathroom fan is heard down the hall.

My thoughts:

Last night, during dinner, john and ....(officially, he is still a 'pre-teen,' but in all aspects of behavior, reaction, and mood, he *is* a full bodied teenager) had it out. It was quite entertaining, I must say.

It all stemmed from something simple - yet consciously annoying. John decided to pick the fight and tell Perry to be quiet; as he was humming during the course of his brother talking about the day. Perry stopped and in the middle of the sentence, asked if he could clear the table - we said yes. He quickly added that he wanted to be excused afterwards, and we said, no.

This did not sit right with the teenager and in full momentum, charged with words and behaviors at his dad.....and consequently, his dad fought back. The remaining audience members (kids and me) knew full well who was going to win this battle of words, wits and physicalitys but the teenager was non the wiser and continued in his quest...full speed ahead.

I sat, quietly, with legs propped up on a chair and watched the scene - oddly enough, thinking of my time with John 13 years prior; before 'said' teenager was born. The time when WE had space to have our voices heard. The time when 4 other humans didn't vacuum all existing energy from our day.

This morning, I dug up some old journals of "john and katie." Sentences like, "We ate Corn Flakes on the porch, finished the newspaper and were off on our bikes." "John and I saw a very bizarre play last night in Los Angeles; which consequently didn't start until 11:30pm." "Today, we just pulled out the futon, warmed up corn tortillas and watched movies all day long." "Last night, after dinner at the restaurant, John and I spontaneously drove up to Duluth for a weekend in a B&B. We didn't' arrive until after 11pm, but the owners left the porch light on for us." "Tonight, on the coldest night of the year, John bought me my dream car....a convertible Alpha Romeo Spider...."

Last night, i giggled inside during Perry's heated words - words that were a novice tool to him and words that will only get better with time and maturity. I laughed, and thought, "Perry, you don't know this man. You are completely unaware of who he is. And, this man, whom I have now loved for 20 years is trying to teach you how to use your words, your movements and your tone in a sophisticated manner - to only assist you later, when you need it.

'John and Katie' have filled many journal pages of our own torments, heated moments, blissful events, and entertaining days. Pages are continuously being filled with each passing day. It was fun last night to see a new set of events transpire; an inauguration of sorts into the next chapter of 'John and Katie.'