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Mutt and Jeff

Friendships are beautiful things. The problem is that by middle school age and pretty much from then on, even the best of friendships are riddled with a certain amount of concern over what the other person in the duo thinks of you. The bliss of friendships before this stage just can't be compared to anything else, especially when it comes to little boys.

Eric has a friend at school named Isaac. By visual standards, you really can't find two people more different. Isaac is my size, at least 5'3, probably 120 pounds or more, looking like a small adult, or at least much more than his 10 years. Eric is on the smaller size, short, thin, maybe not looking quite his age of 10. But believe me when I say that their behavior is right on que with one another--by watching them interact, you can totally tell they are both 10!. It is sweet to see little guys enjoy one another before the age of toughness has arrived. They giggle, laugh, act totally goofy and think the other is all the better for it. For whatever reason, from the first meeting, Isaac has totally adored Eric. With Eric a first born, he is very accustomed to being the big cheese, so he took right to that like a fly on poop. It went so far as Isaac getting wire-rimmed glasses exactly like Eric's even though they wouldn't have been the fashionable choice for his not-so-delicate features. Ever since the beginning, a pair was born, a friendship was cemented and it has been going strong ever since. Isaac spent the afternoon at our house yesterday and fussed like a 2-year-old getting a lollipop taken away when he had to leave. Not easy to shuffle a grown-up sized kid into a van when they don't want to go!

Come to think if it, this phenomenon may have more to do with boy friendships than girl ones. Even John has guy friends who try to outdo one another with goofy stunts, bravado acts and other such nonsense. And Caroline, now 8, has been having little spats with some of her girlfriends since kindergarten. Maybe that is why it seems so sweet to me.

Comments

Anonymous said…
That really is sweet. I am finding that boys just are naturally sweet. At least Connor is. I guess I'll find out about Liam in a few months :) abb
3/05/2006 3:33 PM
Anonymous said…
Jen, you are so hilarious! Only you would say "he took right to that like a fly on poop!!!" Your blogs just crack me right up. You've missed your calling, you need to quit medical transcription and write for some magazine somewhere, you are the new Erma Bombeck!
3/05/2006 9:27 PM
Anonymous said…
I'm reminded of packages when I read this article. A package can be filled with the very same thing one in a large box and one in a small... Different wrapping paper on each with miss match bows each holding the very same thing. How true this is of character and what we are made of. It's really cool that at such young ages they look to find what their friends are really made of on the inside. Great story!

- Debbie Stewart
3/06/2006 11:26 AM
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