My thirteen-year-old son has fallen for Date #11.
Yesterday, the three of us flew kites at Buffalo Rock State Park, then went for a hike along the Illinois River. Afterward, we stopped for dinner in some tiny, rural town where my son ordered a heaping portion of shepherd's pie and a giant glass of chocolate milk. The guy told jokes, had a hearty laugh and good-naturedly poked fun at me.
What was not to like?
"I don't know," I said as my son and I were driving back home, "but it just wasn't there."
"But he's so nice," my son insisted. "You have to give him another chance. At least two more times. It's the only way to know."
"You think?"
"Definitely." Then he went on to share his own dating philosophy: To go out with any girl who asks you, because once you get to know them, you'll probably end up liking them.
"You really could like any girl in your school?"
"Well," he said after thinking a moment or two, "maybe not _____ because she's always complaining, or _____ because she's too loud, but otherwise, probably yes. So, will you go out with him again?" he finished.
I glanced at my son, so optimistic and full of promise. "Yes," I said, "if he asks."
"Good. He will. Now tell me a story."
And so I did for the rest of the ride home.
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Yeah for your son! These guys aren't items on a checklist but people.... if you want someone who will come to love you for who you are, you have to give someone a chance (of more than few hours) to learn about who he is.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me wince to think of someone judging me based on a thin snaphot event. I can be totally self-absorbed in my work at times, but I think I have other traits that don't show so readily at the surface (and that certainly wouldn't show up on call). Dates add a level of stress that can skew outcomes.
Yeah for you, also, for keeping at this....
It's great.