smart

"Mom, you're great."

This is Sebastian, our fourteen-year old.  He is watching me practice a song on the piano.  He's been taking piano since he was five.  He likes playing the piano, or perhaps he likes being able to play the piano.

As I continue to hit the wrong keys, miss my cue to hit a key, hit three keys at once and at the wrong time, Sebastian stops and says, "Okay.  Now you're going to begin every time I hit the C."  We play, and he shakes his head a little to the time and he says, "C.....C.....C...."

I love his patience, his hands, his affection, his working with me.  I am in awe of his ability to teach me.  

I tell him, "Sebastian, you're really smart."

He looks at me and says, "Which kind of smart?"

I say, "The one where you get people.  The emotional smart."

He smiles.  

"Good," he says.