Today Short Stuff had a special breakfast ceremony at his school because he has been on the honor roll all year (straight A average) and he was allowed to have two adults there to celebrate the event. He was super proud of himself, and with good reason.(see picture in previous entry) Last week, though... picking which two parents to invite was causing the boy some grief.
When I asked him who he wanted to come to the ceremony, I was really just trying to give him a chance to pick his Bio-dad over me if he wanted... but Short Stuff got a big thinky-type frown on his face for a few minutes, without answering me.
"Only two?" He asked after a few minutes, looking at the invitation the school had sent home.
"That's what it says, kid..."
"Okay... I want you and OldFlame to come."
"What? what about Mommy and Daddy?" I sputtered, my mind reeling from the awkwardness that would theoretically ensue from the boy's idea. Bio-dad just moved in with Oldflame, so it wasn't entirely out of line for the boy to suggest her, but still...
Fortunately everyone else was working today so it was just me at his big day... but it got me thinking about how complicated Short Stuff's family tree really is, and how decisions like this are going to plague him his entire life... I mean, the kid has Me, Silverfox, Bio-Dad, and (erring to the optimistic side) Oldflame as parents from here out... in addition, he also has an affinity for Pint-Size's Bio dad and his family to think about, effectively giving him Five parents that Me and Silverfox have been telling him he needs to have respect for. That means ten Grandparents, and untold numbers of uncles and cousins that have to be considered when inviting relatives to any important event in his life from here on out. Not to mention that I complicate matters for him by refering to a few of my friends as "Uncle Stacey" or "Aunt Drew". (A time honored Cerio tradition, thank you... Dad is real proud of how he has carefully screwed up family, friend and gender roles for me and by proxy, for my son.)
I may have to make him a chart.
On the bright side, it means he has a whole lot of people that care about him and his brother... and at least he's not as bad as Ray Stevens:
2 comments:
I would say, based upon how my sister seems to be progressing along the lines of her birth mother rather than her adoptive one, that genealogical ties are not to be underestimated. By blood as well as law, the boys have fathers. Leading up to a potential for long confusion, so my sister keeps telling me -- in her youth a common retort was "You're not really my father" directed to a man who biologically wasn't.
If you need a genealogical ancestral chart for Short Stuff, I have a bit of experience on that sort of thing. [That, and an entry in a newly-published book by the OCC.]
Uncle Stacey... you want to really confuse him don't you... it's Aunt Stacey and Uncle Drew...
Feel free to use Uncle Mel. And give my congrats to the boy! That's an awesome accomplishment.
And kiss Silverfox for me... with tongue.
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