For Jon, living with four wisecracking relatives is like trying to go scuba diving without a tank. Still, Jon compensates with a visual acuity that is sometimes frightening. He can spot a caterpillar on a tree trunk at 50 paces. And he works harder at life every day than the rest of us combined.
Though I cannot imagine where they get it, both David and Ben are quite opinionated. When their teachers would knit their brows at parent/teacher conferences and advise me that my sons have very strong views, I would simply nod sympathetically. Flying under the radar is not their style.
When we visited New York over Christmas break, Ben and I surveyed Manhattan from atop the Empire State Building. "Where is the useless building?" he demanded. "What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled. "You know, the United Nations." And I fear that David may have alienated his social studies teacher by arguing that Chief Tecumseh certainly defied the stereotype of the peaceful American Indian unconcerned with land ownership.
Still, they do have a decorous side (though you'd never know it by sharing a meal with them). When they are about to pounce on one another, they have been known to pause first and advise me: "Look away, Mom, a mother should not have to witness such violence among her children."