I've lived with the three kids for their entire lives. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. Despite all the time I've spent with them -- talking, listening, goofing around, ragging on them -- I still find myself wondering who they really are and what they're going to be like when they "finally grow up." I think I got some pretty good answers in the past couple of days.
- Hannah was interviewing for a summer job at a "real" company. If she got it, it would be her first true job in a professional setting. It was important to her. During the hiring process, she had a series of interviews. At her last one, she was asked the question "If you could meet one person from history, who would it be and what would you ask them?" As Hannah told me about the interview, she said "I know they probably thought I'd say Jesus or Oprah. But, I said Joe Paterno. I told them I'd ask him how it felt to be betrayed by the university to which you'd devoted your entire life." I thought that was a pretty interesting response for a 20-year old who was trying to make a good impression at a job interview. She could have taken the easy road and given a pat answer. But, she decided to say what she really felt. I liked that. The easy road's never as much fun.
- For his birthday, Nick got a tent. He's not an outdoorsman. None of us are. But, he really wanted a tent. Why? So he could camp out at Paternoville next fall. You see a theme here, don't you? Not to worry, this isn't really about Joe Paterno. You see, Nick has always been a hoot to watch opening presents. The expression on his face when he's opening a gift is exactly the same as an 18-year old as it was when he was a 3-year old. It's a priceless mix of anicipation and joy. Sure enough, as soon as Nick opened the box and saw his tent, he decided he needed to set it up. Five minutes later, we had a two-person tent in our family room. Then, he loudly announced that he was going to sleep in it. Yes, on the night of his 18th birthday, our grown son spent the night happily asleep in his new tent on our family room floor. That's Nick -- silly, spontaneous, and very easy to please. I could learn something from him.
- Last night, Jay found himself in the middle of a competition with two friends. They got the bright idea to see who could hold their arms above their head the longest. After an hour, we picked him up to bring him home but he wouldn't let that end the competition. The whole ride home, he dutifully held his arms above his head, not knowing if his friends were still doing the same. When we got home, he got a text -- one of the guys had dropped out. Now, there were just two competitors left. Ninety minutes in, he got another text. The message asked if Jay wanted to call it a tie. If you know Jay at all, you know that Jay doesn't do ties. Instead, he quickly hatched a plan to sucker his friend into thinking he was OK with the tie. He got him on speaker phone, agreed to a countdown at which time they'd both drop their arms, counted down, and then refused to drop his arms. As his friend started to talk about how, after dropping his arms, they hurt even more now that the blood was rushing back into them, Jay gleefully shouted that he'd tricked him and was the winner. I get that this particular episode shows Jay to be a ruthlessly competitive kid who isn't above tricking someone in order to win. I've clearly still got some work to do with him on that front. But, I can't fault his perseverance, strong will, and desire.
