Last night the boys and I watched a movie together. The boys chose "Hero of the Rails" for our movie. It was a super time to snuggle, and also, I confess, it was a good time for me to just check out for a little while. However, the irony of the break for me was what came next. Oh my goodness the questions came rolling. The movie was over around 6:30 and the rest of the night was consumed with something that looked a little like this:
Why was Hiro the first train on the island of Sodor?
How did he get to Sodor?
What time of day do you think he came? Morning? Maybe nighttime?
What island did Hiro live on before Sodor? Do you think it was Misty Island?
How old was Thomas (Henry, Percy, Gordon, Edward, Deisel, etc.) when Hiro was on Sodor?
Why wasn't Thomas (Henry, Percy, Gordon, Edward, Deisel, etc.) on the island with Hiro?
Why did they call him the Master of the Railway?
What does Master mean?
Why was Hiro blue and green?
Why did they paint Hiro black?
Why did they leave Hiro to rust in the wilderness?
Why didn't they bring Hiro his new part?
Why was Spencer so mean in Hero of the Rails?
Remember when Spencer (fill in the blank), wasn't that mean, Mama?
Why did Spencer follow Thomas around?
What was Thomas trying to do?
Why did Thomas keep Hiro a secret from the other engines?
Why did Spencer want to send Hiro to the scrapyard?
And on and on and on and on. That kid's brain NEVER stops. At our last book club, the amazing Jacki Dublin shared about how she has really been trying to listen to her son when he is talking her ear off. To validate him. Not just to nod and grunt, but to HEAR him. I think about how when Cooper is a teenager, I will want him to come to me with his questions, not his friends. I want him to remember how open I was with questions. But last night, after about an hour of explaining a movie that I hadn't fully watched (shhhh...don't tell!), I had to ask Cooper to give me 5 minutes of no questions. Maybe next time I'll endure.
