Friday – Meet Bragen Grater
Nov. 6th, 2009 09:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninanevermore.
.
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I like the silence around my house in the early mornings. Both my guys are sleeping – the little guy and the big one – and the only noises I hear are a slow melody of clicks: the clicking of the heating element on my little 4-cup coffee pot in the kitchen turning on and off, the clicking of my geriatric dog's nails as the walks across the tile floor, and of my fingers clicking on the keyboard here at the computer. No TV, no conversations, no distractions of any kind; just different kinds of clicks that accentuate the silence around them.
Once my little boy wakes up, it is hard to be on the computer, much less write. Sometimes I wish he had been twins, because he longs for someone to play with and it would be nice to be able to send him and his brother-I-forgot-to-make-for-him out in the backyard to play while I got some things done. When I try to do that with just him, he frowns and reminds me that he has no one to play with. People who come from households of multiple children think that an only child is spoiled because he doesn't have to share his parents' affections of his toys with anyone else. Only children, on the other hand, think that kids with siblings are lucky because have playmates. My son has created a playmate that he is going to meet someday, who will be able to come to the house and play with him whenever he feels alone.
"His name is Bragen," he told me. Bragen is a very unusual name, and it also happens to be my little boy's middle name.
I've learned a lot about Bragen and his family. His mother is taller than me, but also kind of plump. Her name is Puppy, because she really likes puppies. His father is tall with curly hair, just like Sweet Pea's own father. His name is Cheese Grater, because he loves cheese.
"A lot," Sweet Pea told me. "He really loves cheese a lot."
Bragen is older than Sweet Pea: he is 9. This age difference of 4 years does not keep him from wanting to be Sweet Pea's very best friend. Bragen has 10 brothers and 2 sisters, and he is the youngest of Puppy Grater's brood. With so many older brothers, I suppose he wears a lot of hand-me-downs. He has a lot of the same toys that Sweet Pea has, but they are different colors so the boys easily can tell whose stuff is whose.
Bragen does not look much like Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea's hair is fair and straight, but Bragen's hair is dark and curly. Sweet Pea's eyes are gray-blue, while Bragen's are dark. I think Bragen resembles Sweet Pea's own half brother in these ways, but my stepson is an inconvenient 15 years older than Sweet Pea, and thus more of a beloved hero than a playmate. At 9, Bragen's lesser age difference makes him much more accessible as a playmate, but big enough to stand up to anyone who tries to bully Sweet Pea.
"When that kid I'm going to meet comes over, we're going to race cars," Sweet Pea tells me. "We're going to go super fast."
"Do you mean Bragen?" I ask.
"Uh-huh."
"Who is going to win when you two race?"
"I am. I'm faster than Bragen."
Sweet Pea is lonely. Silly, careless me: I forgot to make him a brother about his size but not as fast as him that he can beat in races and ride bikes with and who will beat up bullies for him. There are other children in our neighborhood, but none close by. It is an old neighborhood and the children of all my immediate neighbors are grown. Occasionally they bring their own children home to visit their grandparents, but not often enough for Sweet Pea to form relationships. Besides, most of these grandkids seem to be girls who aren't really interested in things like fast cars and rocket ships and dragons the way Sweet Pea is.
After spending so much time working and driving to and from work and thus having little time for a life of my own I kind of wish Bragen was real, myself, so I could get to know Mrs. Grater. I could make coffee for Puppy and we could watch the boys play in the backyard. I could ask her if she had 13 children on purpose, or if she just had remarkably bad luck with her birth control. My husband and Cheese Grater seem to have a lot in common, so we could discuss our men and complain about how they are both good at starting projects but never seem to finish any of them.
I suspect I would enjoy her company immensely; almost as much as Sweet Pea would enjoy the company of her youngest son.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * # * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
.
.
I like the silence around my house in the early mornings. Both my guys are sleeping – the little guy and the big one – and the only noises I hear are a slow melody of clicks: the clicking of the heating element on my little 4-cup coffee pot in the kitchen turning on and off, the clicking of my geriatric dog's nails as the walks across the tile floor, and of my fingers clicking on the keyboard here at the computer. No TV, no conversations, no distractions of any kind; just different kinds of clicks that accentuate the silence around them.
Once my little boy wakes up, it is hard to be on the computer, much less write. Sometimes I wish he had been twins, because he longs for someone to play with and it would be nice to be able to send him and his brother-I-forgot-to-make-for-him out in the backyard to play while I got some things done. When I try to do that with just him, he frowns and reminds me that he has no one to play with. People who come from households of multiple children think that an only child is spoiled because he doesn't have to share his parents' affections of his toys with anyone else. Only children, on the other hand, think that kids with siblings are lucky because have playmates. My son has created a playmate that he is going to meet someday, who will be able to come to the house and play with him whenever he feels alone.
"His name is Bragen," he told me. Bragen is a very unusual name, and it also happens to be my little boy's middle name.
I've learned a lot about Bragen and his family. His mother is taller than me, but also kind of plump. Her name is Puppy, because she really likes puppies. His father is tall with curly hair, just like Sweet Pea's own father. His name is Cheese Grater, because he loves cheese.
"A lot," Sweet Pea told me. "He really loves cheese a lot."
Bragen is older than Sweet Pea: he is 9. This age difference of 4 years does not keep him from wanting to be Sweet Pea's very best friend. Bragen has 10 brothers and 2 sisters, and he is the youngest of Puppy Grater's brood. With so many older brothers, I suppose he wears a lot of hand-me-downs. He has a lot of the same toys that Sweet Pea has, but they are different colors so the boys easily can tell whose stuff is whose.
Bragen does not look much like Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea's hair is fair and straight, but Bragen's hair is dark and curly. Sweet Pea's eyes are gray-blue, while Bragen's are dark. I think Bragen resembles Sweet Pea's own half brother in these ways, but my stepson is an inconvenient 15 years older than Sweet Pea, and thus more of a beloved hero than a playmate. At 9, Bragen's lesser age difference makes him much more accessible as a playmate, but big enough to stand up to anyone who tries to bully Sweet Pea.
"When that kid I'm going to meet comes over, we're going to race cars," Sweet Pea tells me. "We're going to go super fast."
"Do you mean Bragen?" I ask.
"Uh-huh."
"Who is going to win when you two race?"
"I am. I'm faster than Bragen."
Sweet Pea is lonely. Silly, careless me: I forgot to make him a brother about his size but not as fast as him that he can beat in races and ride bikes with and who will beat up bullies for him. There are other children in our neighborhood, but none close by. It is an old neighborhood and the children of all my immediate neighbors are grown. Occasionally they bring their own children home to visit their grandparents, but not often enough for Sweet Pea to form relationships. Besides, most of these grandkids seem to be girls who aren't really interested in things like fast cars and rocket ships and dragons the way Sweet Pea is.
After spending so much time working and driving to and from work and thus having little time for a life of my own I kind of wish Bragen was real, myself, so I could get to know Mrs. Grater. I could make coffee for Puppy and we could watch the boys play in the backyard. I could ask her if she had 13 children on purpose, or if she just had remarkably bad luck with her birth control. My husband and Cheese Grater seem to have a lot in common, so we could discuss our men and complain about how they are both good at starting projects but never seem to finish any of them.
I suspect I would enjoy her company immensely; almost as much as Sweet Pea would enjoy the company of her youngest son.
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Date: 2009-11-07 10:49 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-11-08 12:41 am (UTC)