The Tides, They Are A-Turning

Each Tuesday I volunteer in Ben's second grade classroom. I have two book clubs, and each week we read a chapter in a book. One of the clubs is made up of three boys and the other is five girls.

Each Tuesday I'm amazed by the fact that Ben will still plant a big kiss on me before I leave, right in front of all of his classmates. And that the girls fight over who gets to sit next to me, the winner usually laying her head on my shoulder while we read.

In other words, they haven't figured out yet that parents are embarrassing.

Whenever Eric and I chaperone field trips, our boys are so flipped-out happy that we're there that they cling to our sides and make sure that they "own" us for the day. If neither of us can make it to a field trip, they are sad and disappointed.

At least that's how it's been up until now. But recently there's been a change in the air. I think Theo is starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, his parents are a little....well.....uncool.

On the last field trip I did with his fourth grade class, Theo pulled me aside and said, very kindly, "Mom, I may not be able to sit with you on the bus because I need to sit with my friends." He cushioned it with a sweet voice and gentle words so that my feelings wouldn't be hurt, but I got the main message: "Mom, I'm moving on. I've had a good time being your love bug, but I'm becoming a man and I need to start acting like one." (sob, sniffle...)

Eric chaperoned a field trip with Theo's class just last week. Since dads seem to hold on to their status as acceptable beings a little longer than moms do in the eyes of a kid, I had high hopes that Eric would get one last "clingy" field trip, one last moment of acceptance from our little man.

He's the kind of dad a kid would want to have on a field trip. He's fun and silly and takes charge and engages kids. He sat in the back of the bus with ten 10-year-old boys and kept them engrossed for twenty minutes in a game of "Guess What Number is in My Head?: Between 1 and 1 Million." What's not to love?

As he recalled the day, Theo admitted that he had, indeed, been embarrassed having his dad along. I asked what Eric had done that was embarrassing.

"His presence," he said.

"And mom," added the soon-to-be man, "the damage is pernamint."