Axis

august 17th

SINCE WILLIE WILL BE starting kindergarten in two and a half weeks, I have been tasked by Aunt Colleen to take him shopping with a written list of specific supplies he needs. It's not that she doesn't want to do it herself, but she's busy preparing for the school year ahead and all the science classes she'll be teaching. In the past years, her teaching has been limited to chemistry and freshman-level general science classes. This year, she has been asked to take on one of the honors biology classes because there is an overflow of students taking it, so she has a lot of preparations and lesson plans to make.

I've decided to ignore Jasper as much as possible after our awkward moment yesterday, so I texted Meredith on a whim to see if she was interested in accompanying Willie and me. To my surprise, she said yes.

"All right, William Butterfield," Meredith says in her most official sounding voice. "The designs on the folders you are about to select will make or break you in your first year at school. Choose wisely."

"I like the superhero ones!" Willie exclaims, running over to where a bunch of folders covered in Batman and Superman logos are strewn about in disorganized piles on the shelves.

"Respectable choice," Meredith says, nodding her head agreeably. "But that's a very forgettable approach you're going for. All the boys in your class are going to have the same folders, and you won't have anything unique to you that will distinguish you from the other boys. If you're aiming to be the stud of the class from day one, you need to set yourself apart a little. But only a little, you don't wanna get labeled as the weird kid on day one, either."

"Meredith!" I exclaim, equal parts exasperated and amused. "He's five, I don't think being a 'stud' is on his radar yet. Let the kid be a kid."

"I wanna be a stud! How do I be a stud, Meredith?" Willie asks, striking a pose as if ready to be critiqued.

I shake my head and bring a hand up to rub my aching temples. Good lord.

Meredith shoots me a pointed look. "See? The kid wants to stand out. I respect it. Willie, look at this folder with baby goats. It's cute, right? If you mix that in with a superhero folder or two and maybe one of these folders over here with some cars on it, the girls will go nuts. They'll think, 'wow, he's cool enough to be into typical boy things like superheroes and cars, but he's also sensitive enough to care about animals. Who is this guy?'"

An involuntarily laugh bubbles its way out of my chest. God, I missed this.

"Girls are icky though," Willie points out, a valid argument.

Meredith does not shy away from honesty. "Kiddo, there will likely come a day when you change your mind on that. And when that day comes, you'll want to have built yourself up a good reputation so no one will look back on that time you tripped them in freeze tag or told them their outfit was weird. You have to be confident, like nothing phases you, but also considerate of their feelings. It's a delicate world out there in kindergarten."

"But also," I quickly add in, not wanting to overwhelm the poor child, "just be yourself and do what makes you happy. If the superhero folders are really what you want, then there's nothing wrong with being like all the other boys."

"I wanna do what Meredith said!" he exclaims, already compiling a stack of folders in his hands, grabbing some superhero ones, some car ones, and some cute animal ones. "I'm a stud!"

Meredith shoots me a kids, what can you do look and I roll my eyes. But secretly, I'm just really thankful she came out with me to do this.

"I could use the excuse to get out of the house," she had said when I first thanked her for coming. I'm not sure what that meant, but I figure she'll further elaborate on her own time.