Tolliver shimmies around the kitchen and I acknowledge his footwork. It's not a dance, Mom, it's a tactical move. I watch as he continues to wiggle his way out the door, suddenly better able to match his wardrobe to the season, and worry less that he'll be an adult living in a cardboard shanty. I try to relax my own agenda and follow his lead, making room for more understanding. Tolliver tends to have a deep capacity for witness. In some ways he becomes the forest or the injured animal or the character in a book.
In addition to dance skills and increased ability to dress appropriately, he also has a very quick wit. Andy cautioned Tollie during a recent exchange, explaining he was on a slippery slope. Before missing a beat, Tollie locked eyes and lobbed back: Then I'm about to ski down it!
He's been studying plants, the way their stems defy gravity and instead reach for the sun. Last week he wondered aloud whether there's less oxygen in the air in the winter when most trees have lost their leaves. This week he's writing an essay about bioluminescence, originally titled Natural Light and revised to Natty Light.
What a gift to keep getting to know one of the boys I love best. He is funny and he is learning to be flexible in his ideas, beginning to understand that the world cannot always orient to his own desires.
I want to be more like him.
1 comment:
We could not have predicted where Tollie's first skiing lesson would take him, but then he's always been slightly unpredictable. Another tactical move? ;> It IS a gift to watch him grow and learn!
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