He's Got the "Beat"

Recently, I have been doing more sewing than.... well, than I have ever done in my life. Chris' pajama pants, John's Spider-Man pants, the occasional (okay, ONE) button on Jeff's work shirt. As Jeff and I were discussing grocery lists, John came and sat on the floor between us, snuggling his "beat" against his cheek. His beat is his security blanket, a gift upon his birth from his Great Aunt and Uncle. The twins each received one with their name and year of birth embroidered on them. Chris got a teddy bear beat, John got a rocking horse beat.

They loved their beats so much, they dragged them with them everywhere they went. It wasn't long before they began to show signs of all this love, and needed mending. In time, I had sewn so many tears on their blankets, I started calling them the "FrankenBeats." This past year, my needle could not keep up with the tough love administered by the boys.



Back to John. Having grown accustomed to seeing Mom with needle and thread, he offered up his beat for repairs.

I grimaced at the Herculean chore proposed. "Oh, Honey, that has so many tears, I could never fix it."
Helpfully, John suggested, "You can work on it every day until midnight until it's done."
"Do you know how many years it would take me to fix that beat?"
"How many?" he asked.
"Ooohhh..... at least five. Probably more. A lot more," I said, hoping to dissuade him.
John thought for a moment. "How many years do you have left to live?" Always thinking ahead, that one.
"About sixty."
"So you can fix it!"
"In sixty years?"
Pensive look. "Uh huh."
"Well, John, in sixty years, you'll be sixty-five years old. Do you think you'll still want your beat?"

"Well, then can you finish fixing my Spider-Man pants?"

I don't have the heart to tell him he has already outgrown those pants.