My son,
I gave you my nose:
a perky nose, not vaguely classic.
I gave you my hair:
the colour, the texture, the volume
so you should keep it
(be nice to your poor balding father,
don’t rub that in).
I gave you my height
(sorry about that).
I gave you my obsessive nature:
all into the current interest
for as long as the interest lasts.
I gave you my shoe lust
and an appreciation for the unique.
I’m not sure where you got that charm
that drags the ladies to you,
or the way you stretch your dimes
or your athletic discipline.
It’s fun to see your inheritance
blinking back at me from those
lovely, hazel eyes.
.
.
Mother and son on Mont Juic in Barcelona
Shawn L. Bird 
Really good. People see me in my son as well… I hope he likes it
It’d perhaps be nice if he had his father’s height and lovely nose, but hey, you get what you get in the genetic lottery! lol 😉
In my case, he does not have my nose. He has my height, sadly. I think he would have preferred my fathers height!
Beautiful!
Thank you.
Nothing like motherly love…..
or astonishment
or chagrin
or amusement
or a Sweet kiss on the cheek!
Was your mom prone to cheek kisses? That wasn’t really something we did with our kids, nor that we got from our parents.
No, mine was slap with stick on the ass…
A child can dream!
A sad inheritance, Chris.
That is lovely. Thank you.
My pleasure.
I think you nailed why I feel a bit sad tonight. My 18 year old son has beautiful, enviable hair, similar to how mine was during my teenage years. Tonight he bleached the colour out of it to oblivion and then dyed it purple. I’m not quite sure what he had in mind as to how it would turn out – it’s actually a pretty purple colour, although he looks like one of those toy trolls with the fluffy purple hair. It took hours and he and a friend spent a fortune on it, along with hours interrogating various hairdressers and shops about how to do it right. He hates it. He’s meant to be applying for part-time jobs, but now doesn’t want to show his face in public. Isn’t it uncanny how parents can see the future, but their kids don’t listen. I wonder if that glossy, brown hair of his will ever return…
Of course it will. Hair grows. Personally, I love bright crayon coloured hair (as you see from my profile!) but you have to have some chutzpah to pull it off. Sometimes the desire to be the person who can rock that attention grabbing hair is not quite able to live up to the reality of it. But if he WANTED to be that person, it’s worth honouring the attempt. Being unique and standing out in a crowd is not a terrible thing, but it can feel like that ‘naked in public’ dream. I suggest he lift his chin and rock that troll hair!
As his mom, the greatest gift you can give is a celebration of what he was/is trying to say with that hair. Be brave!
Thanks Shawn! Yes, I noticed your hair and I love it. Great advice. 😊
I was just having that conversation with my husband yesterday. Lovely, poem.
Thank you.
Touching. Lovely. As a mother of two small children, I’m waiting and wondering how they will be years from now, and what of my features will appear in the older version of themselves. After two terrible pregnancies (extremely sick into the seventh month) they damn well better look like me. After all that hard work, I want something to show for it!
lol
What a beautiful poem, Shawn, and one that touches my heart, too, with an almost 19 year old son. 🙂
Thanks.