Questa è Enida

On the way home from school on a Monday afternoon, after waiting for Kitreena’s orchestra practice…

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Edrick: Mom, we have to have goals in our life.

Mommy: That’s right. You’re not talking about soccer, are you?

Edrick: No, that’s a different kind of goal. I mean… you have to have goals for yourself.

Mommy: Yes you do, and what are your goals, Edrick?

Edrick: I have two goals, Mom. Goal number one is to go to heaven when I die. And goal number two is to have a good job in this life. I want to have a job that can give me at least ten thousand dollars a month.

Mommy: Oh wow! I like your goals, Monch! *starts to look at her own goals now*

Edrick: Oh Mom, and I mean ten thousand dollars okay. Not ringgit.

Mommy: Okay, sure. And that is Canadian dollars eh?

Edrick: Yeah. Or maybe I can win a competition or a contest that gives me ten thousand dollars.

Mommy: But why do you want to win a contest? You don’t know if you are going to be lucky.

Edrick: No, I mean for my age now. That’s all I can do. I can’t get a job yet. I am only 8 and a half.

Mommy: Okay Edrick. All the best! But maybe you should focus on your job now, and that is to do well at school.

Edrick: I am, Mom.

Mommy: But I like your goal number one too, you know.

Edrick: I know.

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I peeked at his reflection on the rear-view mirror, and I could see him smiling.

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Happy Father’s Day, Enida.

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Lately… Ethan doesn’t seem to be interested in playing with Edrick anymore. It breaks my heart to see Edrick handling rejection, but I don’t really want to interfere. Friendship is something only ‘friends’ have to go through to figure it out. Mothers have to step back. It is a learning process.

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But they do chat on the intercom phone almost every day like any other BFF’s do. Sometimes for almost half an hour. After one of those calls the other day, and with tears welling in his eyes, Edrick was ready to talk…

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Edrick: Ethan doesn’t want me to go over to his house, Mom. *sobs sobs*

Mom: Oh okay, why don’t you ask him to come over to our place?

Edrick: He doesn’t wanna do that either.

Mom: Oh okay, maybe you guys could go out to the pool.

Edrick: He can’t. He’s grounded.

Mom: Ohhhh okay. That explains.

Edrick: Ethan’s grounded for playing too much iPad.

Mom: Playing too much iPad? How much is that?

Edrick: I don’t know. He’s grounded for two weeks!

Mom: That is long, man! But that’s what happens when you break the rules.

Edrick: But there are no rules in Ethan’s house, Mom. He can play with his iPad whenever he wants.

Mom: If there are no rules, then what is there for him to break?

Edrick: I don’t know. Ethan doesn’t know about the rules either.

Mom: Hmmm… that’s pretty tricky, eh?

Edrick: Yeah, how can you know what is right if you don’t know what is wrong?

Mom: Oh boy! You’re absolutely right.

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I knew I was talking to my Little Big Man.
But I didn’t realize he was that big already.

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It was nine in the evening and the house was very quiet after Kitreena was done talking on the phone with Paola. She was supposed to be in bed at eight just like Edrick but needed help from her best friend who was not available until about nine. Oh well… sometimes I just have to trust these little women.

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I waited for her upstairs and was eating late dinner quietly when she came up to the kitchen and asked me this question in the tone of voice that reminded me of my mother.

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Kitreena: Do you do this every night?

Mommy: Do what?

Kitreena’s question somehow made me nervous!

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Kitreena: Do you eat dinner late like this every night, when we are in bed?

Mommy: No, I don’t! I didn’t eat dinner at all last night.

And this question made me feel defensive and curious if she was going to preach me about healthy eating habit.

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Kitreena: Mom, when I see you eating on your own like that, it looks so… uh, so… lonely.

Mommy: *smiles* It is lonely. But it’s okay, Monch. I’m okay.

Kitreena: I always feel that way when I see somebody eating all by themselves. I feel like sitting with them and just be there so they won’t be so lonely.

Mommy: Come sit by me, then…

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We sat at the kitchen table for a while, saying nothing much, before I chased her to bed.

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It was the most un-lonely moment in my life.

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On the way to school Wednesday morning, as we were merging into the right lanes near PWTC, Edrick came up with a question…
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Edrick: Mom, are my eyebrows too bushy?

Kitreena: Edrick, this is the THIRD time you asked Mommy this question!

Edrick: I know, but I wanna know if my eyebrows are too bushy.

Mommy: What do you think, Edrick? Do you think your eyebrows are TOO bushy?

Edrick: Ummm yeah, I think so, Mom.

Mommy: What makes you think your eyebrows are too bushy?

Edrick: Because when I look in the mirror, when it’s dark, my eyebrows look like they are attached.

Kitreena: Hahahahahaha! They are attached to YOU, silly goose.

Edrick: No, I mean they look like they are attached to each other.

Kitreena: Hahahahahaha!

Mommy: Hahahahahaha!

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I thought of Awie Wings for a while. And then my mind switched to one Japanese samurai/ninja cartoon character on TV who has one eyebrow that stretches across the forehead. I looked at my son from the rear view mirror and fell in love with his bushy eyebrows all over again.

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