He Didn’t Mean “We” In The Royal Sense, But At The End, I Did.

I am thrilled to report that, without any sort of prodding from me, the younger boy–who is a high school freshman this year–asked on Monday if it would be okay for him to stay after school on Wednesday for a German Club meeting.

“Absolutely!” I said, excited because he was interested in an extra-curricular activity on his own as well as, well, it’s German Club…and you know how I feel about that. (No? Click here.)

Yesterday morning before he left for school, I told him I’d pick him up at 3:30, an hour after school was finished, unless he let me know that German Club was going to take longer than that. He said he’d text me when the meeting started and he had a chance to ask his teacher how long the meeting was.

At 3:00, I sent him a text, asking what time I should come. (You see, we’re still juggling cars and the older boy had to work, so it was important that I got the car home in time, yada yada yada. Hopefully that situation will be rectified tonight!)

He texted back “idk ill txt u” (that’s “I don’t know, I’ll text you”, for you non-text-savvy readers). I responded, “K”.

And then I never heard from him. Until 3:55.

The home phone rang; I picked up. He said, “Are you coming???”

“I didn’t get a second text!”

He said, “Well, I sent it; I said we’d be done at 3:30.”

I said, “Hmm, must’ve been bad reception in the school. Alright, I’m on my way. Which door are you standing near?”

“We are near the front door, the main entrance.”

His use of “we” confused me, but I ignored it for the moment because I needed to get over there, sehr schnell (very fast).

When I drove around the bend in the school parking lot and the main entrance came into my line of vision, it was easy to see him because by this point, even the teachers had left. There were only a couple of kids standing outside. He was standing on the sidewalk with a girl, coolly chatting as he waited for me to pull up to where they were. He gave me a little wave and, as I stopped the car, the girl hopped into the backseat, bringing along the scent of flowery perfume (something I don’t ever smell in my car!), and he sat in front with me. I turned around and said, “Hi!” She greeted me as well and, not wanting to embarrass my kid, I turned to him and as I greeted him, I pointed my finger towards the backseat without letting her see it and mouthed, “WHO IS THAT??”

He said, “Oh, that’s D. From elementary school.” (I found out later that he sent me another text that I never got, asking if we could drive her home.)

She giggled. I said, “OH! Hi, D! I knew you looked familiar, but I didn’t recognize you!”

That was an understatement. The last time I saw her was in 4th grade, I think. Yowza. She was all of the typical teenaged girl, wearing jeans with a casual top, highlighted brown hair that was, even after a long day at school, still thick and glorious (I was coveting her hair!), and I already mentioned that she even smelled pretty.

As it turns out, they are in culinary arts class and German class together (just friends, people! relax!), and as I drove towards her home, they excitedly talked about their club meeting, and classes, and I piped in occasionally but not too much, just really enjoying the little exchange they were having.

They talked about how the German teacher (who I adore: of course!) is way more fun in the club setting than in the classroom, how they need to get more kids to get involved with the German Club, how D’s friends were telling her how lucky she was to be taking German and not Spanish, because “Spanish is so hard!” D said, “I told them it’s easy for me…well, I guess that’s because I already speak it!” and we had a chuckle. They talked about kids from elementary school, and they talked about how they are bringing the ingredients to make real hot cocoa tomorrow, because their culinary arts teacher has given the class an open invite to bring foods to prepare there together, before school.

It was so…normal. And in that moment, though I only added to the conversation very minimally, I was so happy that there I was, driving the two of them around, both of them totally comfortable having this normal conversation about what’s going on in their lives around me, the mom.

“We” loved every minute of it.

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10 Comments

  • Janie Woods

    Awesome! It's amazing how much they change when you haven't seen them in a few years. I hadn't seen my oldest's best friend in four years–he's now in college and five inches taller than I am!!

  • Anonymous

    My heart is swelling he is really growing up and I'm missing it. That is still the thing that kills me being so far from the family. I can't wait to see you guys. Time is passing so quickly, and I am not there to see and know more about what is happening in their lives. I think both boys need to go to Germany, do they still have exchange clubs?
    Enjoy every second of their lives.
    Love and hugs
    Grandma W

  • Katie

    So cute 🙂

    I love your posts about your kids, because they're on their way to being grownups… I can relate to your blog so much more than the other moms who post about kiddos. I still remember this age so well, I feel like I've barely gotten past it myself!

  • NYC Girl

    I miss high school! Of course when you are the GIRL and your dad is driving you and a "friend" home he has a scowl on nad 20 question later who is? where is he from? how do you know him?

    SIGH… I like your story MUCH better 🙂

  • Tara R.

    That is how it should be. Friends and just having a good time together.

    I took German in college. I can only remember how to say 'I don't know' and 'I don't understand."

  • Michelle

    Awww, that's so sweet. You sure there's nothing going on? 😉 I can only hope I have as nice of kids as you do when mine are your age!