Kate Bowler Profile picture
Apr 2, 2020 35 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Every night, in the sweetest voice, my six year old asks me a question in order to try and stall me from leaving. I commit to documenting these questions every night for the next 30 days because THAT KID HAS GAME.
Tonight: Mom.....mom...mom? Mom. Ok, mom. Have you ever eaten a pumpkin? COME BACK. Mom. Have you ever eaten pumpkin seeds? MOM WHAT DO THEY TASTE LIKE!!!!!!!!!
Me: Goodnight sweetie.
Him: Mom?
Me: no. I love you but no.
Him: Are raccoons awake right now? Mom. They can’t kill you. MOM. They don’t have sharp enough teeth. MOM COME BACK HAVE YOU SEEN THEM IT IS SAFE I AM NOT AFRAID
He just yelled “DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WITH ONE EYE?” into the darkness.
Night 3

Boy: Okay mom. Goodnight. Mom, why do you have so much hair? Okay, night. Why is hair made of cylinders? MOM. I want to learn the a-cord-on. A-cordial? ACCORDION. IT GOES LIKE THIS [frantically mimes accordion playing] MOM COME BACK ACCORDIONS ARE MADE OF BEES
He might of said “bees” or “beets” or “beads.” I couldn’t make it out. He had already been tucked in three times.
Night 2 (sorry!)
Me: Goodnight sweetie.
Him: Do you know any myths...any legends?
Me: The legend of the boy who wouldn't go to bed. Goodnight.
Him: Oh, oh, oh, do you know this legend? Mom. Come back. MOM. It's about a giant squid. MOM THE SQUID DESTROYED MANY MANY BOATS!
Him: goodnight mom. Love you.
Me: love you (leaves)
Him: (next room) Mom? Is cheese funny? I think it is. I only like STRING cheese. ...Mom? Mom. MOM. IS GOOGLE A PERSON?

AND WAS GOD EVER BORN?!???
Me: Goodnight my love.
Him: Goodnight mom. This is a good.
Me: Yeah?
Him: Yes. I'm going to sleep now.
Me: Perfect. (leaves)
....
Him: DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE LAST MEGALODON?
....
Him: (quietly) I think he lives in the ocean.
....
Him: THE BACIFIC OCEAN! MOMM. IN A COLD SPOT!
Me: I love you so much. Goodnight sweetie.
Him: does Dad have a job?
Me: yes.
Him: as a ghost pirate?
Me: not exactly
Him: right right right. That was a long time ago. When you were a kid. In the Civil Wars.
Me: goodnight lovie
Him: a long, long, long, long..
Me: GOODNIGHT
Okay I can hear him in the next room. He is talking about Canada being separate from America as "The Civil Wars." ....as a historian...I'm not sure what to say about my job performance.
Him: before you go, tell me one constellation of stars.
Me: Orion. Goodnight lovie.
Him: mom, wait! I have to tell you. [dramaric pause] I picked you.
Me: what?
Him: as a baby. I picked you. For my mom.
Me: [melting]
Him: I picked your tummy. You are MY mom.
Me: you win.
Him: I don't have a question.
Me: Oh! Okay! Goodnight lovie.
Him: But I put something in the sink.
Me: Wait, what?
Him: I found it outside. It's part of a lizard tail. By tomorrow, it will grow back into a lizard.
Me: ....I see your logic.
Him: (yelling) MOM, DO YOU KNOW WHAT HELL IS?

......

Him: (yelling) IS MAGIC REAL? IS A MAGIC TRICK A TRICK?

....

Him: (grumbling) Well now I am thinking about if the sun is just lava.
Him: (praying) and thank you God for snakes, Amen.
Me: Goodnight sweetie.
Him: But what is the difference between an ogre and a troll?
....
Him: Are you not answering because you don't believe in Big Foot?
....
Him: (whispering) ....because he is *reaaaaaaaaaaall*
Me: love you sweetie. Night.
Him: goodnight. To all the crystals.
Me: okay
Him: who was the first person to ever find a crystal?
Me: goodnight love.
Him: in a caaaaaaaaaaaave with maaaaaaaany secrets.
Me: I don’t know how to explain you to other people.
Me: you did a great job reading. Night love.

Him: why do they call it a li-bary? (library)

Me: night sweetie

Him: Because people lieeeeeeeeeee.... they lie about the li-bary?

Him: MOM COME BACK WHY ARE THEY LYING? ARE THEY LYING ABOUT THE BOOKS OR WHAT?!?
Him: before you try to put me to bed I am talking to you about my pet.

Me: you don't have a pet, hon.

Him: I knew you would be reeeeeaaaally scared. you don't even have to see it.

Me: ..... are you telling me

Him: I HID HIM.

Me: (to husband) PLEASE COME IN HERE
Me: Night lovie

Him: Does God sleep? Does God sleep on another planet? God didn't make me Mom. You made me. With your body. And when I came out we looked at each and it was LOVE MOM. I love wolves. Can we make a wolf? With a collar? With a crystal on the collar? Tomorrow? Wolfs?
Him: Mom, can we talk about boats?

Me: one thing and then eyes closed

Him: OKAY (deep breath) because pirates are REAL and are alive NOW. But mostly they killed a-chother or were killed by GIANT SQUIDS or monsters that (giant arms) SQUEEZE BOATS AND CRUSH THEM. Sigh. Goodnight.
Me: you are a wonderful boy

Him: but I don't know what blueberries smell like

Me: try tomorrow

Him: how do pirates feel when they walk on land? Weird?

Me: not sure. goodnight

Him: dinner tonight was bad. i mean, BAD

Me: NOT NICE BUD

Him: (kisses my nose) but good try, mom
Him: Mom, sometimes I am so scared of the Yeti. Not the Loch Ness, that is fine. But the Yeti..

Me: You're safe. Love you sweetie. Night. (leaves)

Him: Yes, but have you ever been bitten by a tiger?

Him: But you've been bitten by a wolf? A bear?

---

Him: SO THAT'S A YES?!!!
**He is too cute. I have given up and am attempting to lie in his bed and hope he will fall asleep if I am completely immobile. There is no hope.**

Him: (poking my face) Mom, can we talk about God rising from the dead?
....
Him: (quietly) well, now I have LOTS of questions...
Me: We need to talk about how you threw a rock today. Not good

Him: ....I see the moon

Me: I need you to know it was bad

Him: I feel okay

Me: Throwing rocks is not good

Him: in the story, David hit Goliath with a rock and it was GREAT

Me (to husband): I am losing badly here
Me: goodnight lovie

Him: (waggling eyebrows) goodnight mom. It will be hard for you to leave

Me: (kisses head) I'll be fine

Him: Goodnight "M" "O" "M". "M" "O" "M" spells DAD...right mom? (makes direct eye contact)

Me: You know how much I want to correct you

Him: I DO!!
Me: Love you sweetie. Goodnight.

Him: Goodnight mommy.

I leave. Storm begins. Huge crack of thunder.

Him: (from dark) MOM CAN YOU PLEASE TURN OFF THE STORM

Me: (yelling) I CAN TRY

Him: WHAT WILL YOU TRY

Me: LOVE I GUESS?

Him: THAT WON'T WORK....TRY SNUGGLES FOR ME INSTEAD
Him: Night! oh mom, I think this is a new tooth

**shows molar. WHAT. Is that a wisdom tooth? hiding alarm**

Me: oh dear. you are getting older.

Him: OH! can I get my driver's license?

Me: you are 6

Him: FINE! so can I stop the tooth from growing so I don't grow up?!
Him: Mom, what can I trade you? (shows me my own coin collection)

Me: No lovie. Not right now. Night.

Him: I'm trading you for this. (hands me my own childhood bear)

Me: You're giving me my own stuff back

Him: A trade! Choose coin or bear

Me: THIS IS A HOSTAGE NEGOTIATION
Me: Night love.

Him: Can I listen to your heart?

Me: Ok

**quiet**

Him: it's beating fast

**quiet**

Him: did you love someone so much that your heart stops beating? did you fall over? did you die? or did you just go to sleep?

Me: no?

Him: SO YOU DIDN'T LOVE SOMEONE?!
Me: goodnight lovie

*he puts his hand on my cheek*

Him: goodnight mommy

Staring lovingly at each other.

Me: did you wash your hands?

Him: nope

Me: were you playing with the garter snake outside?

Him: (huge smile. kisses my nose.) I love him AND you
This morning. I'm drinking coffee staring out a window.

He wanders in wearing pjs, sleepy and quiet. Stumbles over, climbs up and lies across my lap with his head dangling upside down over the edge of the chair.

Him: Mom, do you think you really felt prepared for parenthood?
Me: ......

Him: you have to know everything about the kid. about me. about how much I like lying like this. or eating snacks.

Me: well, I don't think I am ready for all kids. I can just learn you.

Him: okie dokie
Teeth brushed. Pajamas worn. I enter his room for the final goodnight.

Him: (leaping off great height onto bed) TA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Me: oh geez! okay. ta da. it's bedtime

Him: mom

Me: yes

Him: MOM

Me: yes

Him: my greatest enemy is named...Bob

Me: hahaha. okay, why not.
Husband: What would you like to do for mother’s day?

Him: oh oh oh we make her jewelry or pat her hair

Husband: sounds nice

Him: OH! Or show her gymnastics

Husband: like what

Him: A summersault? no no she can do that. A monkey jump? yessssss yes yes

Husband: um, or flowers
MOTHER'S DAY

Him: Mom I made you something

*hands me LEGO heart*

Me: oh, thank you sweetie

Him: I also got you (rummages around) THIS VERY IMPORTANT SKULL

*hands me deer skull*

Me: i love you so much. i hate this so much

(kisses my nose)

Him: You're THE MOST lucky

• • •

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More from @KatecBowler

Mar 5, 2023
A Blessing for The Lives We Didn’t Choose

(Adapted for a communal setting from The Lives We Actually Have, page 188)
Blessed are we in the tender place between curiosity and dread,
We who wonder how to be whole,
when dreams have disappeared and part of us with them,
where mastery, control, determination, bootstrapping, and grit,
are consigned to the realm of before (where most of the world lives),
in the fever dream that promises infinite choices, unlimited progress, best life now.

Blessed are we in the after,
forced into stories we never would have written.
Read 4 tweets
Jun 5, 2022
A blessing for when today already feels like too much
AND TOMORROW DOESN'T LOOK GOOD EITHER
I was hoping to be the kind of person by now
who doesn’t tumble, headlong, into the day
falling, falling, falling
from the high board
without nearly enough water below.

God, I swear I didn’t plan it like this.
But here I am, hoping for another miracle.
Lord, bless these dumb plans
that will short circuit my thinking
and make me fragile, brittle.

Lord, bless these multiplying tasks
that swarm like mosquitoes.

Underneath this to-do list
and these calendar invites
and these many obligations
is a set of loves.
Read 4 tweets
May 22, 2022
A blessing for if you are in pain
(because so few people let us talk about it)
Blessed are you on this pain-filled day.
When getting out of bed deserves an award.
When you can’t remember what it feels like
not to be so aware of your own body.
When you arrange your weeks
around limitations or side effects.
Or when you stop telling the truth altogether about how badly it hurts,
how scared you are of your own mind
or the boring details of another non-diagnosis
because you’re afraid people have stopped caring.

You speak a language of suffering
the world doesn’t try to understand.
Read 6 tweets
May 1, 2022
a blessing for when your family disappoints you
(and admitting that feels terrible)

God, the very people who are supposed to
love me and know me best have let me down.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to find a way forward.
I’m losing my sense of home
and the reality of it fills me with a kind of fear.
However big, however small,
this pain feels unforgivable.

I know they’re only human (really, I know),
but their mistakes feel like they echo through me.
They strike a painful chord that rings on and on,
and I feel convinced, all at once, that I am not loved.
Not known.
Not safe.
I feel small all over again.

So bless me, God,
when tears prick at my eyes and I feel lost to myself
Bring me home.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 20, 2022
A prayer for when you feel invisible (and need someone to see you)

Dear God,

I always feel like the last one picked.
The left out, the unclaimed. It’s hard to miss.

My gifts are not welcome. My tears are not seen.
My pain is not registered. I feel invisible.
Jesus, when You walked among us,
You became the one rejected.
You were abandoned—even betrayed—
by Your best friends, barred from the religious institution, rejected by Your very own people.
You became one with suffering itself, and as an outcast You opened the door for us to find a home with You,
a community of outsiders.

You showed us exactly what You thought
of such exclusion and rejection.
Read 8 tweets
Mar 6, 2022
Blessed are you, friend, sitting among the shards of what could have been. It is broken now, that dream you loved, and it has spilled out all over the ground.
Blessed are you, dear one, letting your eyes look around and remember all the hope your dream once contained. All the love. All the beauty.
Blessed are you, telling your tears they can flow. Telling your anger it can speak.
Read 6 tweets

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