Kids

[Driving to a work meeting with Emma]
...
Emma: Ed (Alex's father) called earlier today, he said that Alex had a good weekend last weekend.
Shane: That's good.
Emma: Yeah. (pause) I asked him if Alex ever mentions me when he's with him.
Shane: Yeah?
Emma: Mm. He said he mentions you and me.
Shane: You mean he said 'you and me' as in Ed and you or he said 'you and me' as in you and me?
Emma: As in you and me. He tells Ed things that we've done, y' know.
Shane: Yeah, good.
Emma: It is good. He's not yet said anything like 'I want to go back to Mummy's house' - so it is good. He likes going to his Dad's cos he gets to see his cousin, Ollie - that's always a winner.
Shane: Yeah, with Ollie being older, Alex probably looks up to him.
Emma: Definitely. Ollie had made Alex a picture that said stuff like 'Alex is the best cousin in the world' on it. All very cute.
Shane: Sounds good.
Emma: Yeah.
Shane: Did you tell Ed that we'd been to Blackpool?
Emma: Yeah.
Shane: Did he laugh?
Emma: He didn't laugh exactly, but he did ask why.
Shane: (irritated) And?
Emma: I just said that we'd been to your Mum's after the work trip up north, and that we chose to split the return journey in half as there was a play that we wanted to see in Blackpool.
Shane: Mm. Given that you said he was into one-upmanship he probably thought to himself that this is too easy when he heard reference to Blackpool.
Emma: I don't know. Maybe. But it would only be himself that he's competing with. I'm not interested in that. It's not one-upmanship to me. He did say one other thing that was a bit 'urrrgghhh'.
Shane: Mm?
Emma: He doesn't like Alex (aged 4) saying 'Oh my God'.
Shane: Okay-.
Emma: I tried to explain to him that it's just an excited exclamation - he doesn't say it in anger or anything y' know. I mean I say it and my Mum says it - he said that he'd got it off my Mum, but his response was that Alex still understood the concept of God - I said 'What!'
Shane: (bemused) He thinks that Alex understands the concept of God?
Emma: I know. I explained that there was nothing blasphemous about the way Alex was using it, but that if it offended him he would have to at least give Alex something different to say.
Shane: Yeah. D' y' think it was Ed's mother who was offended by 'Oh my God'?
Emma: (pause) No, I think it probably was Ed.
Shane: Mm.

This conversation left me thinking that it suggested that Ed and I had very different ways of reading Alex and conveying 'values' - which was an interesting point to ponder for the remaining 8 minutes of the journey.

[Returning from the work meeting]
...
Emma: Y' know when we were at your Mum and Dad's last week?
Shane: Yeah.
Emma: It was amazing how your Mum and Dad were so at ease with Karen's (brother's girlfriend) nieces.
Shane: Yeah, it was good. Very natural.
Emma: I know. And your Dad - the way he got up and went over to Sadie (aged 16, serious physical and mental disabilities - physical stature of a 5 year old, unable to talk or sign) and started interacting with her.
Shane: Yeah, it was good.
Emma: And your Mum - just chatting away with Ellie (aged 11, sister of Sadie) - like she'd known her forever.
Shane: Yeah.
Emma: Looking at your brother and Karen, with the girls, any outsider would have definitely thought they were a family.
Shane: Probably.
Emma: It certainly made me think that your Mum and Dad are looking forward to becoming grandparents.
Shane: (pause) Probably.

This conversation ended leaving me thinking 'bloody hell' for the remaining 6 minutes of the journey.

Number of children that I've liked the idea of having* at different times in my adult life: 0, 2, 4, and 'many'.

* And not always biologically born unto Shane.

*****
Last night, I coined the phrase 'Oh my monkey' as an excited exclamation for Alex's take-up in replacement of 'Oh my God'. The boy laughed, and got it immediately. He giggled his way to bed parroting 'Oh my monkey! Oh my monkey!' All very cute.

*****
I love ginger beer.