You will always be my “little” boy. Even when you are 40.
Your Mummy has a tripple photo frame by her bed with a picture of each of you (you all have your snugglies with you – although I think Noodle has an ordinary ning-ning because it was before he got attached to Otto). In our minds, that is how you are.
For myself, my definitive image of Beanie is that picture that’s on the wall in the utility room:
One of my biggest regrets in life (I don’t have many, praise God) is that I had not discovered either raw image capture or spot metering when I took that photo, because Bean’s face is much too dark.
For Bug, it’s the picture I took on my birthday when Mummy gave me my first DSLR (my 350D).
It was taken on one of the automatic modes, and it captures Bug with his underpants on his head. Adorable!
If I have an equivalent for Noodle (not sure yet – give me time!) then it’s this one, taken on one of the snowy days when I couldn’t get to work (hooray!) because the trains were all frozen.
You get the idea. For all our lives – in our heart of hearts – that is how we will think of you.
I hope you will accept that this is not a bad thing. There is someone (2 of us, in fact – maybe more: I can’t speak for grandparents) who will always see you as:
- irresistably lovable
- vulnerable / in need of protection
- innocent
- adorable
- beautiful
- precious
Perhaps I’ll unpack a few of those in another post.
Of course, I don’t fancy selling “in need of protection” to even the best-adjusted teenager! I understand that you will not always want to be seen like this. It’s just one of those things, and it may help you to understand our attitudes to you. If we seem over-protective (and, I can assure you that we go to some lengths to avoid being so) it probably has its roots in this view of you as … our children.
P.S. Here’s a thought: How do you think I feel about the fact that Grandma and Grandpa see me as their little boy?! ;-)