![](\"https:\/\/images.dailykos.com\/images\/1036171\/large\/Schwinn20inchgirlsbicyclewithtrainingwheels.jpeg?1644444357\")
I felt someone banging their hand on my shoulder and I heard someone saying \u201cCoo\u201d, over and over so I opened my eyes. I was in bed under the covers and David was looking at me and hitting me with his hand on my shoulder. I could tell he thought something was different. Something DID feel different.<\/p>\n
David pointed at the window between our beds. It was happening outside, but we could feel it inside the house too. He said \u201copen\u201d over and over again. So I got out of bed and I opened the window. It felt kind of cold, but not as cold as it felt yesterday, and the air smelled different. It smelled like something was cooking outside that was kind of sweet, or that smell when you opened a box of candy.<\/p>\n
I remembered that smell from before, last year. Before Christmas. Before fall. Before summer and even my birthday. \u201cA year ago\u201d was what mom and dad would say. Things happened, and then they happened again, but you had to wait a long time for them to happen again. You had to wait for all the other special things to happen before each special thing happened again. You had to wait for the whole \u201ccircle\u201d of the year – spring, summer, fall, winter.<\/p>\n
I looked out the back window and I saw dad. He was sitting in the backyard between the two spruce trees on a chair from the kitchen and typing on his typewriter, which was on that \u201ccard\u201d table that they kept in the living room closet all folded up. He was all shiny because he was in the sun.<\/p>\n
David ran over to the other window in our room and pointed at it and said \u201copen\u201d again, so I opened that window too. He probably didn\u2019t even remember last year, so this was all like it never happened before. He pulled at the arm part of my pajamas, and kept saying \u201cgo\u201d and pointing at the door to our room.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, I said, nodding my head, \u201cBut I have to get dressed.\u201d He looked at me, wrinkled his nose, but then nodded, and started trying to open the drawer to the dresser where my clothes were. I chuckled. That was funny. I opened the drawer with my underwear, t-shirts and pants, and David pointed at the underwear.<\/p>\n
I took off my pajamas and now I didn\u2019t have any clothes on. I was \u201cnaked\u201d, that was the word people said. I really liked being that way, feeling the air touching my penis and my bottom. It felt even better today because the air felt extra exciting.<\/p>\n
You weren\u2019t supposed to be naked except in your bedroom when you took off your pajamas and put on your regular clothes. Or when you got in the bathtub, or got out before you put your pajamas on. And other people weren\u2019t supposed to see you naked either, except your mom and dad, and David too because he was in the same bedroom. Even Molly wasn\u2019t supposed to see me naked, or me see her, even though she and I liked doing everything together and knowing everything about each other. If I liked feeling the air on my penis or bottom, she would like feeling it on hers too.<\/p>\n
I even liked it when other people, kids or grownups, said the word \u201cnaked\u201d. Some would get excited or worried when they said it. It seemed like there were a lot of people that liked thinking about being naked, but weren\u2019t supposed to, so they would get excited and worried at the same time when they said the word. That\u2019s the way dad was. Mom was more just worried. Some boys liked talking about girls being naked. But I never heard girls talk about boys being naked, though I didn\u2019t know as many girls except for Molly.<\/p>\n
I took the underwear that David was pointing at and put it on, then put on shorts and a t-shirt. Other people also weren\u2019t supposed to see you just wearing underwear . So then you put pants or shorts over the underwear, so you couldn\u2019t see it anymore, so why did you need to put it on?<\/p>\n
It was also funny that mom or dad would say a \u201cpair of underwear\u201d or \u201cpair of pants\u201d, but there would only be ONE of them. If they said a \u201cpair of socks\u201d, there would be TWO socks, which made more sense.<\/p>\n
As soon as I had my clothes on, David said \u201cout\u201d, which I figured meant he wanted me to take him outside, because he wasn\u2019t supposed to go outside by himself, but he could go out if I was with him. So I took his hand and we walked into the living room. Both windows were open and the regular door was open too, just the \u201cscreen door\u201d was closed.<\/p>\n
I saw mom in the kitchen sitting at the table reading a book and drinking something out of one of those white cups. I figured it was that black \u201ccoffee\u201d stuff, because she didn\u2019t really drink it, she just \u201csipped\u201d it, by sucking on the edge of the cup, instead of just drinking it the regular way. It smelled good, but she gave me a taste of it once and it tasted really yucky like dirt. Dad drank it too. It was like they had to drink it after they woke up or something bad would happen to them. They didn\u2019t say they \u201cwanted\u201d it, they said they \u201cneeded\u201d it. Mom said it gave her a \u201cspark\u201d, to get her mind working for doing all her \u201cchores\u201d. Molly said her mom and dad drank that coffee stuff all the time too. I think it was different than that \u201cpunch\u201d stuff they drank at parties. Coffee did not make grownups silly.<\/p>\n
Us kids drank things because we liked them and we wanted to, not because we needed to. Like the grownups drank that \u201cpunch\u201d stuff at parties, not because they needed to, but because they wanted to be silly, and they couldn\u2019t just BE silly without it.<\/p>\n
Mom saw me and David and said, \u201cCoolie, you’re up\u201d, then, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you take David outside. It\u2019s gorgeous out there. Spring has sprung!\u201d<\/p>\n
David looked at me and nodded, like he was saying, \u201cYeah, why don\u2019t you do that!\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the time when I went outside I put socks and shoes on first, but I still couldn\u2019t tie my shoes the right way, so they were tight with the laces in that \u201cbow\u201d thing. I had been trying it a lot, and mom kept showing me how. I could do the part where you had to make the first part of the bow and hold it with your thumb and other finger and then wrap the shoelace around the end of your thumb. It was just the next part, where you grabbed that part of the shoelace around your thumb with your thumb and finger and pulled it one way while the thumb and finger from the other hand pulled the first part of the bow the other way, that I couldn\u2019t figure out. Mom said I would, that I should just \u201ckeep practicing\u201d, but it seemed like I never would, and that made me mad. If I could just figure this out, everything would be different, I could go outside without a grownup helping me.<\/p>\n
Well this morning I was just going to go outside with my \u201cbare feet\u201d, because I wouldn\u2019t need a grownup to help me do that. David would too. He didn\u2019t care. So he and I went out the screen door in the front yard before mom looked to see we weren\u2019t wearing shoes.<\/p>\n
The hard gray part that you walked on to get from the door to the sidewalk felt cold, but not super cold. The air was kind of cold too, what people said was \u201ccool\u201d instead of \u201ccold\u201d. But my legs and arms that had the sun shining on them felt a little bit hot, what people said was \u201cwarm\u201d. \u201cCool\u201d and \u201cwarm\u201d were the words in between \u201ccold\u201d and \u201chot\u201d.<\/p>\n
I saw Molly across the street on the sidewalk with her dad. She was riding her new bicycle and he was walking next to her, helping her. Her bicycle had those extra little wheels on the back part. She saw me and David and waved to us.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoob\u201d, she said, \u201cBring David over so he can watch me ride my new bicycle.\u201d<\/p>\n
David grabbed my hand and looked at me, waiting for me to walk him across the street, but I didn\u2019t. I felt strange. We were going to watch Molly do something I couldn\u2019t do yet.<\/p>\n
Once she pushed on the pedals a few times, she could stop pushing them but the bicycle kept going. On our tricycles, if you stopped pushing the pedals then the tricycle would stop moving. Even though she wasn\u2019t pushing the pedals, the bicycle was starting to go faster, and her dad started to look worried.<\/p>\n
\u201cPush the pedal BACK to stop\u201d, he said, the bicycle still moving, \u201cNot that way, the OTHER way!\u201d Then the bicycle stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s it\u201d, he said, \u201cThat\u2019s called your brake. Push back gently to just slow down. Push back hard to stop. Got it?\u201d Molly nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, he said, pointing in front of him, \u201cTry riding down to the end of the block. It\u2019s downhill so you don\u2019t need to pedal much forward, just push back gently on the brake so you don\u2019t go too fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly started pedaling and she went down the sidewalk. She didn\u2019t see me, but I watched her, and knew she was going faster than I could go on my tricycle, even pedaling as hard as I could. She could even stop pedaling and still keep going. That was how bicycles were different from tricycles, better.<\/p>\n
David pointed at Molly on her bicycle and said \u201ctri\u201d, over and over, looking back at me.<\/p>\n
I looked at David. \u201cIt\u2019s not a tricycle. It\u2019s a bicycle!\u201d, I said. My words were loud and sounded mad. Molly and I were different. She was older. She had a bicycle and she could tie her shoes. I was still a little kid with a tricycle who couldn\u2019t tie his shoes.<\/p>\n
David looked at me worried, wondering why I was mad at him, then looked down at the ground.<\/p>\n
Molly went down to the end of the block with her dad running behind her and telling her, \u201cNow push back some on the brake. Don\u2019t go too fast!\u201d.<\/p>\n
When they got to the part where the sidewalk turned to the left, I could still hear him say, \u201cNow let\u2019s stop here Molly. Push back on the brake!\u201d But she didn\u2019t stop, she turned to the left on the sidewalk and went behind a house and I couldn\u2019t see her anymore.<\/p>\n
I just stared down the street at where Molly had been but was now gone. I knew that she really liked her new bicycle and wouldn\u2019t want to ride her tricycle anymore. I knew we were going to be different until I had a bicycle too. I wondered how I could get mom and dad to get me one. The ground felt cold on my feet.<\/p>\n
I remembered mom had said to other grownups that \u201cRight kids will tell you what they need.\u201d I guess a lot of other grownups didn\u2019t think so. That\u2019s why she kept telling them.<\/p>\n
Did she think I was one of those \u201cright kids\u201d? If you weren\u2019t a \u201cright kid\u201d, were you a \u201cwrong kid\u201d or a \u201cleft kid\u201d? I didn\u2019t think there really could be \u201cwrong kids\u201d. And I was left-handed, but why would that make any difference. \u201cRight kids\u201d didn\u2019t make any sense. But that was grownups sometimes, not making any sense, even mom and dad.<\/p>\n
I heard the screen door open then mom\u2019s voice. \u201cCloob. If you\u2019ll run into your room and get yours and David\u2019s shoes and socks I\u2019ll help tie your laces if you still need help with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded, still looking out where Molly had disappeared at the corner of her block. David took my hand and started pulling me towards the front door.<\/p>\n
Mom looked around and said, \u201cWow, the first day that feels like spring is pretty darn amazing. She held the screen door open so we could walk back into the living room.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be in the kitchen, when you and David are ready for any help with your shoes.\u201d I nodded, looking down at the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you frustrated that you haven\u2019t figured out how to tie your shoes by yourself yet?\u201d, she asked.<\/p>\n
I nodded again, feeling even more like a little kid, since I only had a tricycle and I couldn\u2019t even tie my shoes. When Molly came over the other day, she showed me that she could now tie HER shoes. She said it was because she was older, she was five and I was still only four. She was trying to make me feel better but it didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
David and I went into our bedroom and I got some socks and my shoes. David said \u201cshoe\u201d and had figured out how to pick up his shoes and walk back out of the room, but didn\u2019t figure out about getting socks. So I picked some out from his drawer and brought them out with all my stuff.<\/p>\n
Mom was in the kitchen. When David came in with a shoe in each hand, she said, \u201cAll right mister D, did you figure that out all by yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n
David nodded and said, \u201cShoe\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mom pointed her finger and touched the end of one of David\u2019s shoes and said, \u201cOne shoe\u201d, and then touched the other and said, \u201cTwo shoes.\u201d David nodded and said \u201ctwo\u201d as she lifted him up onto one of the kitchen chairs, but not his special \u201chigh chair\u201d for eating.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re getting big young man\u201d, she said, then, \u201cNo socks?\u201d David shook his head and said \u201cshoe\u201d again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got \u2018em\u201d, I said, holding his sock ball. Mom always rolled our socks up and then pushed one inside the other to make a kind of ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cToss it\u201d, she said. And when I threw it to her she caught it, opened up the socks and started putting them on David\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n
While she was doing that she looked back at me and said, \u201cPut your socks and shoes on Cloob, then I\u2019ll give you whatever help you need with those laces!\u201d<\/p>\n
Those damn shoelaces I thought. I\u2019ll never be a bigger kid like Molly until I have a bicycle and can tie my shoes! I put my socks on and then my left sneaker. The ends of the laces were down on the floor on either side of the shoe. I picked up the end of one lace and put it around the other lace, and then pulled the end parts away from the shoe and felt it get tight on my foot. That part I could do!<\/p>\n
I made the loop with the lace on the right side and then held it down at the bottom with the thumb and finger of my right hand. Then I took the lace on the left side and looped it around the other loop, but then I had to push it through that second loop and it would get all messed up.<\/p>\n
Mom was watching me. \u201cYou\u2019ve almost got it Coolie. Make your first loop and then the second loop around the first and your right thumb. Then push the middle part of that lace with the end of the middle finger of your left hand through the second loop and grab it with the thumb and big finger of your right hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t like mom telling me what to do. I didn\u2019t like any grownup telling me what to do. It made me mad. I wanted to be able to do everything by myself, or maybe just with help from other kids. If I was trying it by myself in my room, then at least no one else could see that I was doing it wrong. But I kept trying it by myself and getting it wrong, over and over again. And when Molly tried to show me she couldn\u2019t tell me very well. Mom knew how to do it, and she was pretty good at telling me about things.<\/p>\n
So maybe this one time I had to let her tell me what to do. It would feel bad and I would feel mad, but then I would finally know. Then I could do everything myself, and once I had a bicycle, then I wouldn\u2019t be a little kid any more and Molly and I would be the same again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want some help?\u201d, mom asked. I couldn\u2019t say yes because I was feeling mad. When did I get to tell mom how to do something? It wasn\u2019t fair! But she wouldn\u2019t help me if she didn\u2019t think I wanted help, so I nodded just a little bit. Not a big nod like I really really wanted it. Just a small one.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay!\u201d, she said, nodding too, \u201cLet\u2019s figure this thing out together!\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me. Her mouth was closed and not smiling. \u201cWe\u2019ll go slowly, step by step, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded again, but again only just a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cAllright\u201d, she said, \u201cDo that first part you\u2019ve already figured out where you wrap one lace over the other and pull the ends tight.\u201d I did it.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood\u201d, she said, \u201cNow do that second part you\u2019ve figured out where you make the loop with the right lace and hold the bottom of the loop with the thumb and forefinger of your right hand.\u201d I did it.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood\u201d, she said, \u201cNow loop the other lace around the first loop\u2026\u201d I started to do it but she put up her hand and said, \u201cWait!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLoop it around the other lace AND the tip of your thumb\u201d, she said, \u201cHere I\u2019ll show you with my own shoe.\u201d She quickly untied her shoe and then started to tie it again and when she got to that part she said, \u201cNow watch carefully, around the tip of the thumb just like this!\u201d I watched her do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you try!\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
The first time I tried it didn\u2019t work, but the second time I was doing it just like she was.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood\u201d, she said, \u201cNow here\u2019s the tricky part. Take the tip of the forefinger from your left hand\u2026\u201d, she wiggled that finger on her hand, \u201cand put it right on the lace where it is touching the tip of your thumb.\u201d I did that too.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, she said, \u201cJust look at that for a minute, where all the fingers and laces are. Remember that. Once you get there then there\u2019s only one last step!\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at my fingers with the laces around them, and then nodded, a bigger nod this time because I could feel myself getting excited.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, she said, \u201cNow here is the tricky part. Use your right thumb and RIGHT forefinger to grab the lace on the tip of your LEFT forefinger.\u201d She showed me with her fingers on her shoe. \u201cSee how I\u2019m doing it? Do the same thing.\u201d I messed up once but then we started again and I did it like her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got it?\u201d she asked. I nodded and even said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow with the thumb and forefinger of your left hand\u201d, she said, holding up that thumb and finger of her left hand, \u201cGrab this first loop here.\u201d I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood\u201d, she said. \u201cNow still holding each of those laces tight, slowly and gently pull your two hands away from each other like this!\u201d I did it, and suddenly there was a bow. I DID IT!<\/p>\n
She gave me the other shoe. \u201cNow do the other one\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
The first two times I messed up and she had to help me some more. But the third time I did it right and made the bow.<\/p>\n
She smiled and said, \u201cThey say \u2018third time\u2019s the charm\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey?\u201d I asked. I was now asking questions without really even thinking about it first.<\/p>\n
Her eyes got big and she shook her head. \u201cPeople I guess\u201d, she said, moving her hands in small circles, \u201cIt\u2019s what we call an \u2018expression\u2019. You\u2019re dad might know more about where it comes from, who thought it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then I couldn\u2019t believe it, but she pulled on the laces of both my shoes so they were untied again. I looked at her, wondering why.<\/p>\n
She held up the pointing finger of both her hands in front of me and said, \u201cNow tie each of your shoes and untie them again ten times, and you\u2019ll remember how to do it the next time you try to tie them yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt mad again that she thought she was so smart to keep telling me what to do, like she was better than I was.<\/p>\n
I think she figured that out, because she stood up, moved her shoulders back and stretched her head up and her back made a little crack noise. \u201cPractice it on your own if you like, but listen to your mother, at least this once. Do it ten times right now while you\u2019ve got all this in your head and you\u2019ll have it down.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll show her, I thought. I\u2019ll do it ten times and she\u2019ll feel sorry she made me do it so much. So I did, and David standing and watching said, \u201cShoe.\u201d By the time I was done with the ten times I was feeling very happy and I wasn\u2019t mad at her anymore. I COULD DO IT! I COULD TIE MY SHOES! I wanted to tell Molly and show her too.<\/p>\n
I looked out the kitchen window and saw Molly and her dad coming down the sidewalk across from the park. I figured she went all the way around the block on her bicycle. I remember she and I doing that on our tricycles with dad, and it took a long time, but Molly had done it a lot faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cC\u2019mon David\u201d, I said, \u201cLet\u2019s go see Molly!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOlly\u201d, he said, nodding and taking my hand. I heard mom chuckling as I went out of the kitchen with David and out the front screen door. I wanted to go faster but David couldn\u2019t go that fast. He was still a really little kid and couldn\u2019t do a lot of the things I could, like running or even walking fast.<\/p>\n
Molly yelled out, \u201cCoob, David\u201d, and waved for us to come over. She and her dad watched us as we crossed the street, me holding David\u2019s hand. I almost forgot to look both ways first, but I remembered and did it really quick. I knew it was important that I always did it so mom and dad would know it was okay for me to do things on my own, even crossing the street.<\/p>\n
As we came up to Molly, David pointed at her bicycle and said, \u201cTri\u201d.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know why it made me mad that David was saying Molly\u2019s new bicycle was a tricycle. He probably didn\u2019t know the difference. But it made me have to think about how different Molly\u2019s new bicycle was from MY tricycle. It made me feel like I was still a little kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went all the way around the block on my new bike\u201d, Molly said smiling and her eyes twinkling, \u201cBut I still have training wheels!\u201d She pointed down at the little wheels on either side of the big wheel on the back part of her bicycle. That word \u201cbike\u201d was one of those short \u201cnickname\u201d words, like \u201cfridge\u201d for \u201crefrigerator\u201d. It wasn\u2019t just people that got nicknames.<\/p>\n
I nodded and looked down at the ground. I could tell Molly could tell I was feeling mad and sad.<\/p>\n
Molly looked at me. \u201cYour mom and dad need to get you one Coob\u201d, she said. I nodded but still looked down at the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cMolly\u201d, her dad said, \u201cI\u2019m sure Cooper and his parents will figure that out.\u201d Then he looked at me and said, \u201cYour birthday is coming up in April, right?\u201d I nodded but didn\u2019t look at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell you what\u201d, he said, \u201cI\u2019ve got to get to Schlenker\u2019s and do some other chores, so why don\u2019t you let me put your bike in the garage. We can ride it some more when I get back.\u201d Molly nodded and got off her bike.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to come with me to Schlenker\u2019s?\u201d he asked, \u201cI know you like the place.\u201d Molly shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah figured\u201d, he said, laughing through his nose, \u201cI can\u2019t compete.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know what that \u201ccompete\u201d word meant or why her dad couldn\u2019t do it. If a kid had said it or mom or dad then I would have asked. But it felt like it had something to do with Molly and her dad and what she told me at her party about her mom not liking her dad anymore. So he rolled Molly\u2019s bicycle around the side of their house to the garage back behind it. Molly watched him walk away and David pointed at her bike and said \u201ctri\u201d again.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a tricycle, David, it\u2019s a BICYCLE!\u201d, I said. I sounded mad, though I didn\u2019t think I was TRYING to be mad.<\/p>\n
Molly looked at me then looked at David. \u201cIt\u2019s a new word you haven\u2019t learned how to say yet\u201d, she said to him. He looked at her like he was really thinking about it. I thought David did a lot of thinking for a kid as little as he was.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s dad came back from the garage and walked up to where the three of us kids were standing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, he said, \u201cI\u2019m off to Schlenker\u2019s. You sure you don\u2019t want to come?\u201d Molly shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cCooper could come with us maybe\u201d, he said, \u201cThough I don\u2019t know about David.\u201d Molly shook her head again.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, he said again, but this time it sounded really different than the last time he said it. \u201cWe can practice some more when I get back!\u201d Molly nodded but looked at the ground.<\/p>\n
He got in his little blue car instead of the big station wagon, then there was that car noise. Molly watched him drive away.<\/p>\n
Then Molly walked right up to me and said, \u201cYou have to get a bicycle!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know\u201d, I said, \u201cBut I can tie my shoes now!\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly nodded, but it didn\u2019t seem to change what she was thinking about. \u201cIf you really really need something\u201d, she said, \u201cWho do you ask, your mom or your dad?\u201d And then she said, \u201cI ask my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about that and said, \u201cMy mom told another grownup that \u2018right kids will tell you what they need\u2019. She always wants more stuff and dad says we don\u2019t have enough money right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly shook her head. \u201cWhat\u2019s a \u2018right kid\u2019?\u201d she asked. David shook his head too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, I said, shaking my head, \u201cI THINK that\u2019s what she said.\u201d Then trying to figure it out, \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a kid that\u2019s right handed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly wrinkled her nose. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t make sense\u201d, she said, \u201cWhy would that be different?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, I said again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to ask your mom\u201d, Molly said. David nodded, then I nodded too. \u201cLet\u2019s go ask her\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, I said, and Molly and I took each of David\u2019s hands and we looked both ways and then walked across the street. We both knew we wanted our moms and dads not to worry about us crossing the street by ourselves, so they\u2019d let us do more stuff by ourselves. We both knew they might be watching us right now from inside our houses.<\/p>\n
We all walked into our living room. It was empty except for that \u201cHerman Miller chest\u201d and that \u201cWindsor\u201d chair. They were both by the front door, so you could get gloves and hats and other stuff out of the drawers and sit in the chair to put on your shoes or your boots before you went outside. I remember mom saying they looked \u201cforlorn\u201d, whatever that was, because there was no other stuff in the room. I could see Molly looking at the empty room, but she didn\u2019t say anything about it.<\/p>\n
Mom appeared in the door to the kitchen. \u201cWell here you all are\u201d, she said, \u201cTo what do I owe the pleasure?\u201d She did a big smile. Molly, David and I all looked at her with no idea what she had just said.<\/p>\n
She laughed. I liked it when mom or dad laughed. Mom did it a lot more than dad did. \u201cIt means I\u2019m surprised, though happy you came to visit me, and wondering why.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly looked at me and she opened up her eyes really big, like she was telling me to ask her. I didn\u2019t know quite how to ask it.<\/p>\n
Molly turned her head and looked at mom. \u201cCoob wants to know what \u2018right kids\u2019 are\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
Mom wrinkled her nose and shook her head, \u201cWhat WHAT kids are?\u201d, she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight kids\u201d, both Molly and I said. David made some sort of noise too, but I couldn\u2019t figure out what he was trying to say.<\/p>\n
Mom shook her head some more. \u201cI\u2019m not sure what you are talking about\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said about \u2018right kids\u2019\u201d, Molly said.<\/p>\n
Then I said, \u201cThat will tell you what they need!\u201d I had never talked like that to my mom before. It felt good, because Molly was doing it with me, and I think David was trying too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d, mom asked. She looked like she really couldn\u2019t figure it out. She looked at each of the three of us, her nose wrinkled and her mouth pushed together. We all just stood there for a minute, waiting for somebody to figure something out. David looked at Molly and me then looked at mom.<\/p>\n
Then I could see that it looked like mom was figuring something out. \u201cI think I was talking about \u2018BRIGHT kids\u2019, not \u2018RIGHT kids\u2019\u201d, she said. \u201cOh my god!\u201d She tilted her head back and laughed. I couldn\u2019t remember ever seeing her laugh quite like that. \u201cYou remember me saying that to someone at a PARTY?\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
She put her hands behind her head, looked up at the ceiling and shook it slowly back and forth and said, \u201cWhat I said was \u2018BRIGHT kids will tell you what they need\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are bright kids?\u201d Molly and I asked the question at the same time.<\/p>\n
Mom held her hands out in front of her head. \u201cNow this is a picture I wish I could capture and keep forever. Two bright kids asking me what \u2018bright kids\u2019 are! It\u2019s so classic!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid too\u201d, Molly said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYOU\u2019RE RIGHT\u201d, Mom said, pointing her finger at Molly, then looking at David, \u201cYou just don\u2019t have all your words yet.\u201d David shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Bright kids\u2019 are kids that figure things out for themselves and then figure out what to do next\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll kids do that Missus Zale\u201d, Molly said.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally\u201d, mom said, \u201cWell I\u2019ll just have to think about that!\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she got down on her knees in front of Molly. \u201cAnd dear, remember\u201d, she said, \u201cPlease call me Jane. You and I have been friends for over two years now. Do you remember the day we met? When Eric, Coop and I first bought the house, and Coop and I came over to say hello to our new neighbors, and you answered the door?\u201d Molly nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you were so cute welcoming us to your home!\u201d, mom said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom made me do that\u201d, Molly said.<\/p>\n
Mom laughed through her nose and nodded, sitting down on the floor now. \u201cI remember your mom being upset with herself that she had not come over to our house to welcome us first. Then insisting we stay and have a drink\u201d, she said, \u201cAnd you took Coop up to show him your room and the two of you have been inseparable ever since!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInseparable?\u201d, I asked, not knowing what that word was and not wanting mom to just talk that way to Molly and not to me too.<\/p>\n
\u201cInseparable\u201d, mom said nodding and now looking at me too, which made me feel better, \u201cAlways wanting to be together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly nodded, looking at mom. She didn\u2019t turn her head toward me but her eyes looked over at me for just a second and then away, and her cheeks got kind of pink. But then they got regular again.<\/p>\n
No one said anything for a minute. Then David said \u201cTri\u201d again. Mom looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTry?\u201d, she asked, \u201cTry what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s trying to say \u2018tricycle\u2019\u201d, Molly said, \u201cBecause he saw my new bicycle but he thinks it\u2019s a tricycle because he doesn\u2019t know any better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI see\u201d, mom said, pushing her lips together and nodding. David nodded too. \u201cSo yes, your new bicycle. I saw you riding it this morning. How do you like it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI like it really a lot\u201d, Molly said nodding her head, \u201cBut Coob doesn\u2019t have one.\u201d I don\u2019t think she wanted to say that, because she put her hand over her mouth.<\/p>\n
Mom looked at her and then she looked at me. I could see in her eyes that she was figuring things out.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, she said, \u201cI think I\u2019m understanding all this better now. \u2018Bright kids will tell you what they need\u2019.\u201d She looked at Molly. \u201cNow that you have a bicycle\u201d, she said, now looking at me, \u201cYou need one too.\u201d I nodded. Molly nodded. David nodded too.<\/p>\n
\u201cNOW it makes total sense\u201d, she said. She put her hands behind her head again and looked up at the ceiling, wrinkled her nose and pushed her lips together, then blew air out of her mouth. Then she started nodding and said, \u201cYou\u2019ve got your birthday coming up Coop. Your dad and I will figure out how to make that happen and get you a bicycle!\u201d<\/p>\n
I was happy and I looked at Molly. She seemed really happy. David looked at both of us.<\/p>\n
Then mom said to me, \u201cCoop, I want you to always come to me and tell me if there is something you think you need. Your dad and I might not always be able to get it for you right now, but we\u2019ll sure as heck try! Okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him he needed to ask you\u201d, Molly said.<\/p>\n
Mom looked at Molly and did that big smile showing her teeth. \u201cYou\u2019re a good friend dear!\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
Molly nodded and said, \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
And I knew I was going to get to be a big kid too. Pretty soon!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I felt someone banging their hand on my shoulder and I heard someone saying \u201cCoo\u201d, over and over so I opened my eyes. I was in bed under the covers and David was looking at me and hitting me with his hand on my shoulder. I could tell he thought something was different. Something DID […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1791,13,1773,515,1775],"class_list":["post-7307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","tag-1950s","tag-ann-arbor","tag-childhood","tag-human-development","tag-memoir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7307"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7309,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7307\/revisions\/7309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}