Episode 1001: If I Were A Boy

“I really just want to work on mathletes,” Nate said, plucking an apple from the bowl on the table and adding it to the pile of raisins and peanut butter crackers on his plate.

“But-” Lila started, only for her husband to place a hand on her shoulder. “You’re going to ace that next meet working this hard. We’re really proud of you for being so dedicated. It’s great you’ve found an extracurricular you enjoy so much. You do enjoy it, right? I mean, this isn’t about feeling pressured or like something you have to do? You really want to study tonight?”

Nate nodded enthusiastically. “It’s fun and I found some brand new worksheets at school, they’re supposed to be super challenging.”

“At least have some candy.” Lila held the black plastic witch cauldron out to her son.

“Cool, thanks.” Nate grabbed a bunch of mini chocolate bars and dropped them onto the plate. So he wasn’t a complete alien then, at least he liked chocolate.

“If you change your mind about Halloween...”

“I won’t,” he said and headed off to his room with a skip in his step. Lila was still shaking her head when they heard Nate’s door close. “Like I don’t have enough worries right now, I really need my youngest acting like such a weirdo.”

“Lila,” Bowie admonished her through gritted teeth. “What if he heard that?”

“The door is closed. It’s fine.”

“Even if he couldn’t hear you, it’s still wrong to talk about your child that way. He’s not a weirdo, his interests are just different than yours, that’s all.”

“He’s studying on Halloween, that’s weird.”

“It’s different, yeah,” Bowie said. “But he’s enthused about it. He’s happy, that’s good enough for me. I don’t really see the problem here, Lilac. He’s not out wreaking havoc, experimenting in dangerous ways. Personally, I consider that a win and a load off my mind.”

“I guess that’s the way I should look at it, too,” Lila allowed. “Maybe Bas’s stupid plan is blowing everything out of proportion in my head, I see disaster every where I look. Maybe it is nothing, maybe’s it’s good that he’s obsessed with something so scholarly. I don’t know. It just feels like Nate doesn’t do enough kid stuff, he’s not having fun while he can, he’s so, I guess, serious or something.”

Episode 1002: This Is Your Night