but , of course , his mother started to get her claws into mary beth and started filling her head with ideas about children and the future and how if tom would just grow up a little he would be a man and how mary beth needed a man if she didnt want to be a first grade teacher all her life and even though mary beth loved teaching the first grade and loved toms comics and told him he was a brilliant artist , she also started talking about the future which she and his mom felt that he needed to grow up and face and that maybe the future would be better if he grew up and did something with his life .