Me: What’s today?
12 year old: My birthday
Me: How do you know?
12 year old: Because my calendar notification told me.
Me: How does it feel to be a twelve year old?
12 year old: Weird.
Me: Why?
12 year old: Because. I’m not eleven.
Me: How did you spend your birthday?
12 year old: I went to see Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and then I played Laser Tag. I ate breakfast of donuts. And a dinner of steak.
Me: Did you like the movie?
12 year old: Yes.
Me: Favorite part?
12 year old: The ending.
Me: Was it a good birthday?
12 year old: Yeah.
Me: Can I get more than one word answers?
12 year old: No. Okay, yes.
Me: What do you like to do these days?
12 year old: I like to program in Unity and do math.
Me: What are your favorite books?
12 year old: The House of the Scorpion and Ready Player One.
Me: What are you listening to?
12 year old: Lo Normali by EZ.
Me: What are your favorite things to watch?
12 year old: Big Bang Theory. Simpsons. Silicon Valley.
Me: Those are the same shows you watched last year.
12 year old: Yeah.
Me: Haven’t you matured?
12 year old: No.
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
12 year old: Computer programmer. Game.
Me: What are you looking forward to in 7th grade?
12 year old: Math. 8th grade math.
Me: What are your goals as a 12 year old?
12 year old: Survive to be thirteen.
Me: Thirteen means bar mitzvah. Ready for that?
12 year old: Sure.
Me: Any grand pronouncements?
12 year old: Not really. I am amazing.
Me: What does “pronouncement†mean?
12 year old: Like [reaches for phone; I say no], um, something you want to say?
Me: Is this the last year we’ll do these interviews? Your answers are pretty boring.
12 year old: No. This is the not the last year we will be doing the interviews.
Me: Do you have anything interesting to say?
12 year old: No.
Me: So why should we keep doing this?
12 year old: Because maybe next year I will have something interesting to say.
Happy birthday, Doodles.
