That Thing You Do

Listening. It's that thing you do when you love someone, no matter what they are talking about.

I am finding that a 7 year old boy is very interesting to listen to. The ideas flow like a wildfire shooting through a drought-dried forest, and each new idea spawns another. Fascinating.

Today's subject happened to be the building of a boat. I've noticed that boys and boats seem to go hand in hand. Perhaps it is the appeal of water. The SconeLady's husband actually built a boat when he was a boy. This alluring idea has sifted downward two generations, and his grandson has been bitten Big Time.

Something caught his attention yesterday, and the conversation was ON. I heard the excitement in his voice as he described the hull, the 'ailerons', the anchor, and the galley. For it must have a galley. Food will never be far from this small sailor, and where there is food there must be other amenities. Such as perhaps, a loo, I am told.

The stickler here is that the boy insists he is, himself, going to build the thing. Together we searched through numerous photos on Google Images in order to find just the plan. Something a boy would be able to construct without Dad or Grandpa - for Dad and Grandpa, and their garages, are going to be busy with moving houses for a while. This busy-ness is not to interfere with boat-building, and so the materials, the tools, and the 'electricals' must all be accessible without the men.

Hmm.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/shebalso/9443345134/

 Whatever. Let's let him dream, shall we? Let him think through the steps it will take, the list of items it will need, and the knowledge required. It doesn't hurt to hear it all out. 

The nicest thing about all of this listening is that the grandson becomes close to the person who is listening. I learned years ago that this is priceless. It can't be ignored. It takes time, but it also gives time.

His time. A treasure-memory to hold me when I am perhaps elderly, with time for memories that feed the soul.

See you along the way!
the SconeLady













hoto credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/shebalso/9443345134/">Sheba_Also</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>