The L Word Season Four, Episode Ten: The Parenting Perspective

Children are minimal this episode, but it nonetheless touches on one of the great arts of parenting: hiding parts of a conversation from your kids. “I’ve missed you,” Paige tells Shane as they sit at a table with Paige’s ten-year-old son Jared. “And I’ve missed our, um . . . our, um story time. That one story in the car . . . that was the best story I have ever heard.” (If you don’t know what Paige and Shane did in the car, and can’t guess, Scribe Grrrl at After Ellen has the recap.) Shane replies, “Well, I uh . . . you know . . . I thought of some new stories. If you want me to read ’em to you,” and Paige is a sport: “Of course. Will you listen to some of mine, too?”

Our son is at the age where my partner and I can still get away with spelling things to each other, but I fear it won’t last much longer. Then it will be on to coded words and meaningful glances behind his back. After that, I suspect kids develop a highly sophisticated radar for tuning in to conversations they weren’t meant to hear. We’ll have to move on to more technical solutions. I can see my partner and me clutching our cell phones beneath the kitchen table, IM’ing each other about the latest parent-teacher conference, or our son’s new haircut, or perhaps planning a romantic tryst.

Of course, kids develop a pretty good ear for that sort of activity, too. Maybe we’ll end up in a parking lot like Shane and Paige. (I’ll have to remember to keep those stick-on car-window shades that we bought when our son was an infant.)