The difference between men and women

I love my son. He cracks me up. The past 6 months or so have been quite a wild ride, but I love him none the less. I've been neglecting my Blogging duties for a while now. I'd intended to write down an unforgettable interaction with Jared back in May.

We were sitting in the kitchen together working on a packet of homework that he needed to have done and turned in the next day. Like a lot of teenagers, he had procrastinated the homework and now was up late trying to get it done.

From the kitchen we overheard his step father on the phone in the bedroom. We heard him say, "he's one of the smartest kids I've ever known, he's incredibly bright!" Jared's eyes lit up and he turned to me and said, "Is Michael talking about me?" I nodded that he was. The gratification didn't last long because the next thing we heard from the bedroom was, "but he's really lazy. He's a big slug wasting time on the computer and video games and neglecting the things he supposed to be doing." Jared's smile instantly turned into a frown and his eyes darkened and filled up with tears. He turned to me and said, "I hate his guts!" I marched into the bedroom and Michael looked at me and indicated that he was on the phone. I angrily said, "I know...we can hear you in the kitchen and now you have a crying stepson who hates you!" Then back into the kitchen to do damage control. Due to circumstances beyond Jared's control he has some issues with fathers and father figures. I worry about him and want more than anything else for his deep wounds to heal. I encouraged him to think about the complement Michael had paid him and lovingly pointed out that he did have room for improving the way he spends his time but admitted Michael could have said that in a nicer way. Jared got really quiet and continued working on his homework. I had a lot of things going through my head. Did I need to schedule a therapy appointment for him? How could I mend this fragile relationship between my new husband and my son? Should we get family counseling? What is my role? I had a lot of thoughts bombarding me and wasn't sure what to do. It had been so obvious that Jared had been truly hurt by his stepfather's remarks. I looked at Jared again and he seemed to look normal.
I said, "Hey, are you OK?"
He seemed surprised. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
I said, "Aren't you upset at Michael?"
He replied, "No. Not anymore."
Stunned, I inquired, "You were really hurt, how did you let go of your feelings so quickly?"
He just looked at me and said, "Helloooooo....I'm not a woman."

It still makes me laugh.