Focusing on Zachary

An interview with Zachary, age 7. Zachary is my thinker, analyzer, questioner. I often alternate between being completely frustrated (screaming, gnashing of teeth, tears, etc.) and completely amused by him. His idiosyncracies either prompt extreme pride or extreme worry. For example, he's a tenderhearted, sensitive little guy. This makes him exceptionally sweet as a friend and brother. It also leaves him wide open to hurt feelings, and the hurt feelings just happen all too often. He is not a big fan of change and would rather have things remain as status quo as much as possible. When change is required, he has a very hard time making decisions and being content with the decisions after they're made. Look for that quirk as he answers his "interview" questions. And by the way, he LOVED this interview. He sat on the couch and I could see an imaginary microphone in front of him as he performed for his crowd (Alec and me).


Me: What is your favorite restaurant?
Z: Hmmm, what kind of restaurants can I say? Can I do Papa Johns? Or Oh! Did you mean the kind you eat in? I like Olive Garden a lot. But I also like pizza so Pizza Hut is good. I like a lot of restaurants. This is a hard one!

Me: What is your favorite subject at school?
Z: Hmmmm, math!

Me: Why?
Z: Because math games are fun and I learn from them.

Me: What do you like to do with your brother?
Z: Play fighting games, like 'super kitty' (my note: This is a game that they have invented in which they pretend to be cats with ninja powers or something like that. Kind of weird, actually.) and I love to play Star Wars.

Me: Who is your favorite Star Wars character?
Z: Yoda. I mean Luke! Well, Luke and Yoda. And Anakin. Can I have three favorites?

Me: What have you learned from watching Star Wars?
Z: I learned that padawans are very sensitive, have a good sense of humor and are good Jedi knights (my note: padawans are Jedi knights in training). I learned that when Jedi get very old they die and disappear and then their spirits come back.

Me: What is your favorite Bible story?
Z: That's a hard one! (He thinks, tapping his chin. Tap, tap, tap. He starts to get kind of nervous so I say, No big deal, Zach. Just think of one.) His answer... finally...
When Jesus was born because that was Christmas time and I love Christmas! So, Mommy, were Christmas and Easter the only holidays in Jesus's time? (My answer: Those weren't actually holidays in Jesus's time, but there were Jewish holidays.)
Z: Really? Like what? What were the holidays? Did they have presents? What were they called?

***short time out to briefly discuss my limited knowledge of Jewish holidays

Me: What is your favorite color, and why?
Z: Red. No actually red AND green. Because red is lava and green is a good guy lightsabor color.

Me: Who do you play with on the playground?
Z: Luke, Easton, Nate, Chloe, Grace.

Me: Who is the cutest girl in your class this year?
Z: (He giggles, but answers promptly.) Chloe is the cutest girl in my class, but Grace is still my girlfriend.

Me: What do you like best about Oliver and Molly (our cats) ?
Z: They are very, very, very sweet, and Oliver is crazy. He knocks stuff down in the basement, chases our feet, chases Molly, pretends to kill Molly, and that's all. (He laughs.) That Oliver is a crazy kitty! (He picks up Oliver and loves on him).

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Z: I wish I could be a Jedi (he sighs, rather dramatically) but I can't... because lightsabors and the force are not real. (This is actually a breakthrough moment, this admission that such things are not real.) It is only on movies. So I want to be a teacher, a school teacher. And a violin musician. I want to be both.

Me: What do you want to be for Halloween?
Z: I want to be Luke or Obi Wan or Mace Windu or Indiana Jones.

Me: What should our last question be?
Z: It should be...(He names about ten things in one big breath and says he doesn't want to only have one more question because he likes being interviewed, but I insist so he settles on favorite toys.)

Me: Okay, so what is your favorite toy?
Z: My favorite was Thomas for a long time, but it changed to Star Wars guys. I love Star Wars guys.

Me: Okay, that's it. Thanks, Zachary.
Z: Thank you for my information! Bye! (Big grin.) Now let's do you, Mommy! I'll ask the questions!