Tuesday, September 20, 2005

My Personal Mentor

I was going on a business trip to Las Vegas the next day. I told my son about it the night before, while I was putting him to bed. He listened thoughtfully, asking questions about where I would stay and what I would do while I was there. I vowed to bring him a colorful postcard for the collection he had.

We did our usual “tuck-me-in” rituals. There were the extra kisses and the getting the blankets arranged just so. Finally it was time for me to settle my son to bed. I reached for the lights.

I said, “Sweet dreams.”

“Mom,” he said.

“Yes, honey.”

“There are mountains in Nevada. Aren’t there?” said my precocious son.

“That’s right. There are.”

“Don’t look this way and walk that way.”

I stopped for a second. Then I said, “I’ll be sure not to.”

I still don’t know whether he thought I was going to walk into the mountain or over the cliff.

He was only four years old, but he was already my mentor.
—me strauss Letting me be

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Out of the mouths of babes. LOL

Proceed with caution.

Anonymous said...

That is such a sweet story. So cute.

Your son sounds like a very smart kid.
Takes after his mom :)

Anonymous said...

The wisdom of the obvious.

We often miss it. Kids see it every time.

That was great advice.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hey Easywriter,
Thank. Like I said, he was my mentor.

Thanks, Melly. Yeah, he's a special one.

Hello Mac, Welcom.
It was great advice. Wasn't it?
Thanks for coming.

Anonymous said...

It is amazing the things we learn from children. He seems like such a wonderful young man. Thank you for the sweet words in your blog. I tried to comment yesterday, and it would not go through...hope that you are having a lovely day!

Love,
Sarah

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Thank you Sarah,
Love your new pix.

He is a smart and lovely young man.

Anonymous said...

Good for you that you are capturing these moments and putting them into words. One day you will look back on these anecdotes and smile, big and replete. My son at this age was a wonderful source of well-scratch-my-head moments. One time while standing in line with my mother to see a movie, he started to listen in on the conversation of a couple of Russian sailors who were standing in front of him. Confused by their langage, he turned to my mother and said, "Grammie, I don't think they know what they're talking about."
Thank you for making me reflect.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Scot,
Thank you for sharing that wonderful story. I'm still smiling as I write thing.

And thank you for writing such a beautiful reminder of how much fun it will be to look back and read these.

smiles,
Liz