This week is a busy one. Bryan turns 14 next week, so he’s having a “gathering” this weekend (I think that’s the “in” description) with his siblings and a friend. Thankfully, they’re all very self-sufficient, so I don’t need to micromanage – I can sit back and enjoy watching my son have fun.
I felt a bit grotty at the beginning of this week, to the extent that I had to take a couple of days entirely off work. It was perhaps unavoidable; there are enough viruses and bugs going around to infect everyone a hundred times over.
The fact Bryan hasn’t got it and I came down with it twice is a bone of contention in the Munson household, let me tell you, but the teenage constitution is clearly a lot stronger than my 43-year-old one. I just get grumpy whenever these things hit, I’m afraid.
Saturday evenings are film nights at Casa de Munson, and we’re quite the fans of all things sci-fi and fantasy (I’ve managed to convert my son into a fan). We’ve worked our way through most of the Star Trek oeuvre, and we’re currently watching Battlestar Galactica (the reimagined version from about 20 years ago); it’s very gritty, especially when you compare it to the more hopeful future you see on the Starship Enterprise.
I was obsessed with Star Trek growing up. I had posters on my bedroom wall, I read every book and magazine with even the vaguest connection to any series, and I collected anything and everything I could; figurines, communicator badges, and limited edition comic books. My parents took me to Canterbury after my birthday every year, and I went to the two collectable stores to spend my birthday money wisely. That often involved going backwards and forwards to the two stores more than once, which I’m sure delighted my parents no end.
Bryan isn’t that level of obsessive, and my level of interest has faded (but not disappeared) over the intervening years. I can still recite far too much information about the intricacies of the Vulcans, the Romulans, and the Klingons (in fact, I wrote a fact file on the Klingons once for my English classes at school – my teacher was very understanding).
I’ve introduced Bryan to the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies and some of Star Wars (we’ve struggled with that, I must confess), and I want to show him Quantum Leap at some point? Who remembers that series? It was about a time traveller who was trying to change peoples’ lives for the better, one person at a time, and Scott Bakula was brilliant in the role.
The history of science-fiction is a history of social commentary in many senses; Star Trek covered racism, fascism, ancient enemies trying to find common ground after decades of hatred … And, sometimes, it was just plain, down-right fun.
I think I’m distracting myself from the inevitable fact I will soon have a 14 year old son. Fourteen! That’s terrifying and wondrous in equal measure. I have tried my very best to savour every milestone between the day my son came home and today. It’s possible that there are days when I’ve been grumpy or tired and missed out on something – but, for the most part, I’ve succeeded in being present for the little moments just as much as the big ones.
I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to just enjoy time with my son over the past few years – and for many more years to come.
Good man.
By the time I was 14, I was drinking pints and watching strippers in pubs with my dad.