FAQ

Last night began as simply as most evenings do around here; Hayes and I were pleased to be out for a walk on our way to visit friends. I would spend the better half of the evening being pseudo intellectual and analyzing the behavior of celebrities and various others while Hayes, I’m sure, anticipated the joys of playing with someone else’s toys.

It was on my mind to check my bag for the chocolate I had hoped to pack, and to remind Hayes to play nicely—in a selfish attempt to delay any misunderstanding that would inevitably escalate to a scuffle that would lead to the meltdown signaling the end of what was going to be a relaxing evening commiserating with my friends—when I noticed him looking pensively up at the sky.

Then he asked me why is the sky purple.

I stood there baffled—but noticed that his shoelaces had managed to unravel from their double ties in the seconds it took to walk out the door. It was that quintessential parent moment when you’re thrown a simple question to which there is no simple answer. That moment when you realize you’re rearing a thinking being who’s growing way too fast for you to keep up with. That magic moment when it becomes clear that you are experiencing all of the firsts for the second time around.

Of course, my son is two years old. So I knew I could get away with an unsophisticated answer. What did I say? I decided to tell him that the sky can appear different at different times throughout the day and it just so happened to look purple that night.

Whatever. Scientific accuracy was not as important as the reminder that tying his shoelaces every other second [and all the other big but small things I do] is something I might very well forget entirely. Because before I know it... well, you know what they say about raising children.