President of Awesomeness

During our trip to Williamsburg this past October, I was elected the President of Awesomeness by my son. Since then, I have been impeached several times with dark looks of defiance, but I am writing this to remind myself that at one time this year I was loved by the populace.  Though public opinion polls waver in and out of my favor everyday, I admit that I love my new roll.  This high office was bestowed on me when the side of my son that is loving, thoughtful and thankful realized his gratefulness for the time, energy and money it took to plan the spectacular field trip to our country's birthplace.    While walking back to our hotel from dinner one night, he stole a special moment to tell me thank-you in this special way.  Lamenting and fearing that there may not many more moments in life that he might cherish his time with me(since I mentioned that teenage boys often like to spend more time with pears than moms), he expressed in the best way he could how he felt about our relationship.  I will treasure my title of Presidential Awesomeness forever.

A fifth grader's understanding of human reproduction

"Basically mom, all the little sperm are like soldiers going to battle and the egg is like a cannon shooting out of the fallopian tube." Through much giggling and the making of battle noises (where my son corrects me and says"gather more spit in your throat" when I lamely try to create an explosion sound) my son learns the basics of fertilization one evening at bedtime.  Right now, sex seems to be a mysterious act to him where egg is conquered by one brave and valiant sperm.  I know someday the discussions about sex will be more more intricate and emotional, so for now, the battle of the sperm and egg is a memorable bedtime story.