Good Company

I guess it's normal to appreciate you child's progress in fits and starts but what do I know. Last Friday I let Jackson stay out of school so he could help me deliver cookies to some of my best clients. It was a whirlwind tour of Greater Boston with exciting ports of call like Burlington, Lexington, Quincy, as well as Our Fair City. Jack took to the project with great zeal, always wanting to know the next stop so he could be ready. In Woburn we loaded up my back seat at the cookie vendors and proceeded on our mission.

I discovered that Jack possesses Good Will Ambassador genes. Charming and friendly, he shook everyone's hand and wished them a Merry Christmas and was a natural at shooting the breeze. Now this may not seem all that extraordinary for a 12-year old but it wasn't that long ago that he was bouncing off the walls and speaking Russian. I was really taken aback at his level of maturity. I'm accustomed to being proud of his athletic ability but this was a different kind of pride.

The best part is that Jack is good company. We've crossed some kind of threshold where he gets my sense of humor and gives it right back. He's a kids with a million questions. Some are normal curiosities like "what does this company do?" and others are questions from the fringe ("If you bought all the cars in the United States how much would it cost?") So for the better part of the day all the worry about ADHD and school and friends just vaporized. My son hung out with me, helped me get a job done and we had a good time. I'm not used to anything that simple.