A – Z Blogging Challenge, Raising Boys: The Penis Chronicles presents the Letter Y for Youthful

My older boy is notorious for “mak[ing] fun of or attempt[ing] to provoke in a playful way” (google definition of tease: March 5, 2017). One of his favourite ways to tease is by trying to catch me off guard, particularly in regards to age.

“Mom how old are you, 76?” a young voice inquires with a sly smile, followed by a laugh. My head snaps around to look at him. He smiles at me innocently before bursting into giggles. “76? I mean 52? 99?” So this is the game is, I think to myself. I guess that would make me spry or sprightly.

“How old are you?” I challenge back. “3? I mean 1?”

This age teasing seems to be a favourite random activity of my older son. Some days he says I’m 23, some days he ages me into my retirement years, and days when his brother asks how old I am he answers with my correct age. I’m not sure where this game came from, perhaps us teasing him about being younger than he is. At 6 years old it is not cool to be made younger because he is a big boy and not a baby (same goes for the 3 year old, who will give you a firm and chastising “Nooooooo” when asked if he is 2 or 1 year old).

Some synonyms for youthful: active, fresh-faced, young, boyish, and vigorous.

By Shari Marshall – written for April 29, 2017