My mother commented the other day, in her motherly way, about the bruise on Ender's shin, the cut on Joshua's arm, the scrape on Ender's elbow, the bump on Joshua's head, the Ender's fading black eye, and so on. In a very motherly way so I wouldn't miss all the subtext.

"Heck yes they've been getting hurt a lot," I said in my son-erly way. "We've been riding in the wagon, going to the park, sliding on the slides, swinging on the swings, running through the fields, splashing in the kiddie pool, climbing up and down ladders, throwing baseballs, chasing the dog, wrestling, playing in the sandbox, tearing around the backyard, and generally jack-assing around. I expected them to be hurt much worse than this."

My mother did not seem reassured.