There will be something

Ned & I had a bit of debate about There Will Be Blood, the new PTA movie. He was basically poo-pooing auteur theory, although he didn't know it. I'd characterize it this way: There Will Be Anger when it comes to seventeen year old boys and it's really not worth having a discussion. I said "Every time I open my mouth you bite my head off without hearing what I have to say" and he replied with something like "Whatever", bit his hand and looked furiously out of the window. Other than that, he seems happy. This morning I got up at 5:45am and went to Vons for cream cheese for the frosting for Minky's pumpkin cupcakes that she's taking to school, and I picked up warm Everything Bagels. I toasted one, slathered it in cream cheese, wrapped it in foil and left it by the door with a large bottle of Fiji water and then I get this email, sent on the way to school:
Subject: Bagel Message: Thank you. Its soo good.
He might as well have told me that I was the best mother on the planet. I actually teared up. Sad, I know.
But really, what am I thinking, trying to discuss the nuances of a brilliant, yet flawed movie by one of the few directors I consider a genius (I really don't bandy that word about, like, rilly) with a grumpy, overtired, stressed-out kid? Poor baby is getting up at a quarter to six every morning and rushing to school to work on his robotics project (there's another competition this weekend) and is still finishing up applications, doing advanced calculus homework, his internship at Warner Bros. Records, etc etc. I know this is the normal life of a High School Senior and I am full of admiration. He works far harder than I ever did at his age and thinks far more deeply.