Young Men's Love Then Lies, Not Truly in Their Hearts but in Their Eyes.

Not only is my favorite Shakespeare quote beautiful, but true.

Declan came home the other day with a very well-guarded permission slip. It wasn't wrinkled or anything. He was really double super-secret serious about this one. He wanted to take orchestra. Yep. The violin to be exact. Really.

"I just want to find everything I'm good at."

I forgave the dangling preposition and took a look. Turns out, it wouldn't be as expensive as I thought - manageable for sure. His sisters were signed up for drama and ballet, so it was a reasonable request. We had a serious discussion about how it would take years to be good at it, how much practice it would require and the added inconvenience of hauling it to and from school on days they walk. He eagerly accepted all of the responsibility. He was determined.

So, we went to the music store and bought a violin. He is super excited. I thought it was an interesting direction for him to take, but it didn't all fall into place until a few days later.

"So, I haven't asked you yet - are there any kids in your class this year who were in your class lat year?"
"Yeah! There's a girl Mila."
"Mira?"
No, Mom. Mila. M-i-l-a. Mila"
"Oh! That's a pretty name. She was in your class last year?"
"Well, sort of. she was in TAG with me. I know her from that."
"That's great. Is she nice?"
He perked up immediately.
"Oh, yeah! She's really nice. She has blonde hair and she loves science just as much as I do. Basically, she's me but a girl."
"That's really great, Dec."
Then it all made sense.
"Are there any other kids in your class that are doing orchestra?"
"Yep. One."
"Who's that?"
"Mila."
Uh huh. I apparently do have an exceptionally smart boy.