perspective

He was five.  And perched on the back of my chair, peering over my shoulder as I pecked at the computer.  It was late afternoon.  I was sending an email to the pro bono attorney who was taking the case of my client.  We had court in the morning.  I needed to get this email out fast.

And he was more than ready for me to walk to the park.  He fidgeted some more.  Arms squeezed around my neck.

He said, what are you doing?

I said, I have to send an email—a note—for my work.

He said, what is your work?  Do you help bad guys? He grinned.  He was really into Star Wars and Darth Vader at the time.  He knew I didn’t love all the bad guy talk.

I said, actually, I help people stay safe from the bad guys.  I looked at him to see how this news landed.

Pause.

He said, are you a mommy?

I think that sums it up.