The Pieces of Us

The other night, around the dinner table, the kids began asking about families and what makes each family unique.

Mr. Awesome and I talked about the families we came from and how, although there were some similarities in values and beliefs, we had very different experiences growing up. We talked about how when we started our own family we took bits and pieces of the things we liked from our own families and added some things we learned about life along the way to form our family, just the way we wanted it.

The kids, then started talking about who they look like and where certain characteristics come from. We always say how much Mischief not only looks like Mr. Awesome but acts like him, too. Dude looks like me, when I was a kid, but he gets much of his personality fro Mr. Awesome, too. Crafty is a litte bit of both of us and a lot of herself.

"So, there are pieces of both of you guys in each of us, right?" Dude asked.

"Yep, each of you have some looks and characteristics from Dad and I but there is a lot about each of you that is unique, things that only belong to you."

"So like, I have hands like Dad but hair like you?" Mischief asked.

"Yeah," I replied, mildly suspicious of where he was going with his train of thought. I could see his gears turning and that always makes me nervous.

"So we have pieces of you guys? Just like that Franken guy?"

Bingo! That's it ... that's where he was going. About a week ago we were having a different conversation about young authors and I had told them about Mary Shelley and Frankenstien. I could see the images that must be flashing through Mischief's mind and decided to cut him off before he derailed the entire conversation.

"And before you ask, we did not build you guys in a laboratory out of spare parts. You grew inside me like normal babies."

Mischief looked deflated for a moment then perked up again, "Still, it would have been cooler if you built us in a lab!"

He began pretending that he was building a persn out of parts he found lying around the floor. He even removed an arm and an ear from himself to add to his imaginary creation. Crafty watched him for a minute, shaking her head the whole time.

"I think the growing part is where the normal stopped for that one." Crafty rolled her eyes and went back to eating.