The World According To Joey

This blog was written about two years ago now but I had posted it elsewhere. I was recently reminded of it because Joey who is now 7 said something very funny and smart so I thought I would share one of his moments with you...

The World According to Joey

My godson Joey is 5 years old. He is the most precocious child I have ever met. To Joey I am his Ta-Da which is a combination of Tia (Aunt) and Daddy. I was the only one in the delivery room with my cousin the day that Joey was born so for Father’s Day I get a Happy Father’s Day phone call. I am also Joey’s Nina (godmother) because I am the only one in the family that accepts his birth as a blessing and not as another fatherless child.

If you ever want to forget about your worries all you have to do is sit down and talk to a five year old. They will give you new perspectives to life’s trials and tribulations. They are pretty genius if you ask me.

About two month’s ago it was Joey’s birthday and they had a birthday party for him and his brother Niko who was born a day before but is two years older. I am also Niko’s Nina so it’s double duty for me. Sizewise Niko is seven but looks like he’s 9 and Joey is five but looks like he’s 4. Don’t let his small stature fool you. He is a handful.

One of Joey’s favorite pastimes is to sit and watch Scary Movies with his UT (Uncle Tony). On this occasion I happened to stay late and was helping clean up after the party. Joey finishes his bath and comes charging down the stairs. He takes one look at me and runs upstairs which baffled me because the kid likes hanging out. UT then goes over to see what happened and Joey yells down from the stairs, ‘But girls don’t like scary movies’ which makes me laugh. So Tony responds, ‘Your Nina likes scary movies Joey. If she gets scared you can hold her hand.’ To which Joey replies, ‘Ok but I don’t want her to cry.’ Again I laugh and then I turn around and tell UT, 'I really don't like scary movies.'

Joey gets to decide what we are going to watch so we end up watching Jaws 2 -- one of his favorite movies. As we are sitting there watching the movie there is a part where all the boats have pretty much sunk and there is a couple on a small raft and one guy that’s in the water who the couple is trying to save from Jaws. They are trying to pull the guy up while Jaws is trying to latch onto the guys’ legs. Of course the drama is where you don’t know if they will save the guy before Jaws gets him but Joey looks up and as a matter of fact says, ‘They should just let him go so Jaws will eat him and then they will be saved.’ To this I look at UT and say, ‘You know he’s right. If they would just let go then they would be safe.’ If life were only that simple, where we just let go and then we are safe from harm.

Joey is also going to Catholic School and learning about God. He comes home one day and we ask what he learned to which he replies, ‘I learned about God and Kevin’. We all look up from what we are doing and ask Joey at the same time, ‘Who the heck is Kevin?’ Joey replies, ‘I don’t know Nina but he lives with God. That’s what my teacher said.’ By now UT and I are laughing our heads off because we start imagining a world where Kevin does live with God. I imagine they are hanging out going to a gay bar and talking it up while Tony thinks they are drinking buddies that shoot pool on the weekends. Meanwhile Grandma is trying to explain to Joey that the teacher said Heaven and not Kevin but Joeys says, ‘No Grandma, you’re wrong. I know it’s God and Kevin.’

A few weeks pass and I see Joey again so I ask him how God and Kevin are doing. He looks at me, raises his brows while scrunching his nose and says, ‘No Nina, it’s not God and Kevin it’s God in Heaven!’. Although I am happy that he learned what he was supposed to learn it kind of saddens me a bit at the same time because I wish we could all see what the world would be like if different points of view were taught at a young age. Where the precocious child accepts what you tell them as truth. Where they are not yet jaded by the world we live in and the prejudices that come with living in this world.

6/18/07