Post-Script to an Open Letter

Dear Future Daughter-in-Law,

There might be some hope after all.

Last night when Timothy cut his head on the bathtub faucet, I called over my shoulder as I was leaving the bathroom with a bleeding boy, "Jonathan, I need you to take care of Benjamin.  Please put him in the shower to rinse him off.  I'm putting you in charge."

I heard a cheery "OK, mom!" and then I went to work on Timothy.

By the time I had gotten Timothy cleaned up, bandaged, and dressed, Jonathan had:  gotten himself out of the tub and gotten dressed.  This task alone can sometimes take an hour or more to accomplish.  He had put Benjamin in the shower to rinse off the blood and bubble soap, wet mopped the floor to get up the blood, water and bubbles, put the wet mop away, and used the dry mop to dry the floor.

I was in shock, to say the least, when I went up to the bathroom and found it perfectly clean.  He'd even put the dirty clothes in the hamper.

"OK, I need to get Benjamin out of the shower...." I began.

"No, mom, let me do it!"  Jonathan said, running into the bathroom with Benjamin's pajamas.  "I'll dry him off and get him dressed.  You go take care of Timothy."

Numb, I just nodded, and proceeded to do what he said.  He even hung up the towel when he was finished.  I was later informed by the neighbors (whose dinner we had interrupted), that Jonathan had also fixed scrambled eggs for a hungry Benjamin while the boys were at their house.

I'm still in shock.  Is this the child who can't find the shoes he's tripping over?  Who forgets to button his pants?  And who takes an hour sometimes to get dressed (he tends to lose focus)?  WHO IS THIS PERSON???

Could it really be that this amazing human being is lurking under the surface of the everyday boy?

So, you may have ended up with a person who can't find the laundry basket when you dump it on his head, but there seem to be the seeds of heroism or something like it lurking underneath.  Look for this; nurture it.  Give him crises to deal with -- he seems to perform admirably.  In the meantime, I'll do what I can to help these tendencies surface more frequently.  I think I'll put him in charge of our next move.

Very truly yours,

Kelly

Your future mother-in-law.