The Doc Searls Weblog : Thursday, February 23, 2006
I gave some thought to this weblog by Doc beause we have kids too. Its interesting to watch the differences between a 14-year and 7-year old. The teenager wanders his life and I think enjoys the degree of separation even though still liking the occasional hug. But he’s reached his degree. Our daughter at 7 enjoys the rich part of having mom and dad. The snuggling, the hugs, the tickling, the other touching stuff. When those things go away, I think my wife and I will feel a terrible missing of a very important part of things that we also enjoyed with our son.
We all must find our places though and our son seems to know his. Our daughter sees a place that she wants to get to but it involves the rich parental contact. I enjoy so much the moments as Doc mentions in the post. My daughter asks so tenderly for me to sit with her. I always smile at that because she is such a sweetie (at times). I think at 7 the kids reach the desire to go off a bit but are bounded by wanting the togetherness. At 14, our son enjoys being that Alice Cooper “half a boy, half a man”. He likes the twist there.
Finally, they both have ideas. Ideas about the world, the inhabitants, and what needs to happen there. The world is brought into focus these days even by cartoon shows. Differences, similiarities, cultures. We can see things built in animated features. Its truly amazing.
When ideas and places and kids come together, parents can win. We can sit there quietly listening to both kids and see their wonder in some juxtaposition of realities and enjoy things through their eyes.
