Ah, Noah...

I'm puttin' it right out there: Noah drives me up a fucking wall. Not sometimes...most of the time these days. But even when I'm ready to tell him I've had it, he needs to find his own place, I have to admit he's a really great person. I mean it! He really is. He saves his adolescent venom, as I affectionately call it, exclusively for me. With everyone else, he's really pretty awesome. Case in point:

After fUNschool (our homeschooling co-op) today, one of the moms had a flat tire. Now, Noah didn't jump out of the car and rush over to help. But when I mentioned maybe he could give her a hand, he did saunter over and offer his assistance. The older kids joined him, so we had our own little impromptu auto maintenance class. Unschooling rocks!

Not that any of us knew how to change a tire, mind you. But between the four moms and eight or ten kids who were there, you'd think we could figure it out, right? I mean, how hard can it be? All guys seem to know how to do it, after all.

So, once the jack was alligned under the frame correctly and the van was lifted, the kids took turns unscrewing lugnuts. Noah steps up to the plate: strike one! That thing wouldn't budge. Try another lugnut, buddy. Strike two! Those suckers are on tight, aren't they?

At this point, Noah steps back to let another teen try; this time, a girl. She got it on the first try. I could just see the self-esteem issues wafting about his aura...There goes his manhood now...

Next up, another girl. His crush, at that. Ruh-roh. But she wasn't able to move any lugnuts, either. Then Noah comes up with the idea of using his foot on the crowbar, and the rest was easy. Manhood crisis averted. Whew!

The girls got the spare tire and lugnuts on, then Noah tightened them. The mom of the van in question started lowering the jack. Bear in mind, this woman had the cutest little skirt and heels on. A white skirt, at that. Noah steps up and --are you ready for it?-- asks if she'd like him to do it.

I tried not to let on, but I was bursting with pride. He really pushes my buttons; I think he thinks it's some kind of sport; "mom-needling," and he's the reigning champ. But darned if he isn't, underneath all the puberty, a really nice guy.