Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: CONFUSED (07/29/21)
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TITLE: Kid Time | Previous Challenge Entry
By Corinne Smelker
08/04/21 -
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I blinked blearily at my husband. After 20 years of marriage, he should know I am not my best at 6am and before my first cup of coffee. “No. What?”
“We should have daddy-and-me or mommy-and-me dates with the kids.”
Through the toothpaste lather I’d been creating as he talked, I mumbled, “Wha–?”
“You know, once every couple of weeks one of us takes one of the kids out and we do whatever they want to do. With five kids it’s a great way to spend some solo time with them.”
Thus was born ‘mommy-and-me’ dates. Those were fun with my girls – lunch, movie, clothes shopping, make-up, mini-golf. Even my eldest son posed zero challenge – hiking, hang-gliding, horse riding and extreme sports.
But my two youngest sons…
“So. When Link and Zelda fight to save Hyrule from Ganon, Link uses his special sword, and as he and Zelda travel to the Sacred Realm they have to make sure their hearts are pure–“
I nodded my head and interjected, “Which one is Link again?”
“M-o-o-o-m! He’s the one in the green, remember? I dressed up as him last Halloween.”
In bewilderment I said, “Oh. I thought you were Peter Pan.”
“Seriously? They’re nothing alike!”
“Sorry James. I’ll try to remember. Are you ready to order?”
While we waited for the food, James regaled me with more insights from his favorite video game. “Charlie was telling me that there is a new book coming out – it’s a timeline of all the games and it connects all of them together. We’ve got The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link, and a Link to the Past, and the cool thing is…”
I tried to pay attention; I really did. James was not particularly outgoing, and it was commonplace for him to be talked over at the dinner table by his four older siblings, so I knew these times where he got to sit with me, or his dad, and be allowed to speak unfettered for as long as he desired were precious to him. The one rule we had for our mommy-and-me dates was no interrupting the kids; consequently he had free rein for as long as our date took.
As we finished our lunch and got ready to go to the video store (where else) I tuned back in to hear him mention ‘Super Smash Bros’.
“Wait? Link is in the Mario world?” I asked in utter confusion.
Big blue eyes looked accusingly at me. “Mom. Do you even listen? That’s what I’ve been saying!”
“But how? I mean, how?” I felt I was on firmer ground here. I only played one video game and that was Mario Kart. I was wicked good though and a force to be reckoned with. “I have never seen Link in Mario Kart,” I concluded.
“Well, he’s there,” James said and for the next 15 minutes regaled me with storylines and stats and which character was best and who he liked the most.
I knew better than to interpose again. I was reminded of something Churchill said (or Shaw or Wilde – there was some confusion about who actually said it), “England and America are two countries separated by a common language.” James was speaking English. I understood each word on its own but when he strung them together in sentences I was lost.
As we walked towards the video game store, I gently laid my hand on James’ shoulder. “Sorry I can’t talk to you about this stuff like Dad can. Maybe you’d like to go out with him instead of me.”
James looked up and smiled. “It’s ok Mom. I like going with you because you buy me more games than Dad does.”
“You little mercenary!” I exclaimed good-naturedly. “Ok. What video games are you conning me into buying this afternoon?”
As we entered the store, I could tell I was going to spend the next hour in a state of befuddled awe. But what else is a mom to do, eh?
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