JOURNEY OF WORDS

‘It smells like Europe’, my son declared this morning as he put on his shoes outside, in front of our door. He was referring to the cold air and how it smelled when we were last in Europe. Two years ago. In The Netherlands. When the country unfortunately went into strict Christmas lockdown due to the new Omicron variant. The day before we boarded our flight.

Over a breakfast of polenta with maple syrup and Croatian coffee, we talked about our previous winter trip. How we need to go again, so that this time we could walk through the many parks and forests together. Something he did not do when I would go out walking alone, assuming I wanted to go by myself. I wish I had taken him instead of thinking he wanted to sit with the other two boys as they were gaming alongside him.

‘Gaming is so boring’, he surprised me. Then he went on to tell me how he couldn’t just sit at a desk all day and play games. Which is exactly what all three boys did. But Minecraft is apparently a different situation, as he gets to build something.

The minutes ticked by at the breakfast table and I was fully aware that he would probably be late getting to school. However, in this instance, I did not care. My son was talking. He was a chatty teenager this morning and I was enjoying our conversation.

As children grow older, they gain more experiences. They see the world evolve around them with more possibilities. As children become teenagers, they become more interesting as they develop their own ideas and bring a fresh perspective to a conversation. Sometimes they are silent and reserved, barely saying a word. Other times, they can surprise you and take you on an interesting and enlightening journey of words.