She Sees in Color

In hot pursuit of a birthday gift for one of our favorite people, my children and I (yes, reunited) visited Anthropologie in downtown Austin. I don't think I'm merely projecting my own feelings upon the situation when I say that this store is right up her alley. We spent most of our time in the kitchen section.

Eliza, my budding young photojournalist, wandering around a bit, after being allowed to select her very own snack dish (a.k.a. latte cup) of a different hue than that of her siblings, documenting the experience:



Meanwhile, a moment with the Y Chromosome ...

Me: Oooh, I really like this dress! A lot! Oh. It's two hundred fifty eight dollars. Never mind.
Ian: TWO HUNDRED FIFTY EIGHT DOLLARS? Are you KIDDING?! You'd have to be a MILLIONAIRE to afford a dress like that!

Eventually I had to pull him aside and caution him against the impropriety of roaming the store checking price tags on everything and editorializing. He did get the final word in, though, demanding of the clerk, "How come everything in this store is so expensive?" As I rejoiced in my beautiful bargains.

Delightfully, he's still young enough that strangers find his social blunders amusing. An hour later, in the Costco parking lot, he accosted an employee to urgently inform him that a man appeared to be taking someone else's car away, and was probably a robber. (Even that word: ROBBER.) Costco Guy, once he understood was Ian was talking about, gave him a quick bare-bones education in the concept of "impounding" and the importance of paying one's bills when one grows up. Then he winked at me.

My son's impulse toward right and wrong, to see things in black and white and declare them as such, to enforce the rules, made itself manifest early on. I remember him being almost five and, from the backseat, responding to my observation about a motorcyclist speeding by with no regard for the posted limit with the comment, "He must smoke cigarettes."

But of course.