Alex had me to himself the first three years of his life. Meredith came along right before he turned three. So for the two years before Alex headed off to kindergarten, he shared me with his sister.
Meredith talks all the time and has since she was able. Alex is much more reserved and far less emotive. (Unless he’s angry. Then, you’d better hold onto your hat.) Alex and I haven’t had an uninterrupted conversation in four years.
The lingering fever of yesterday meant Alex would be home again today. Tuesday is a school day for Meredith. Alex and I had a day to ourselves. I honestly can’t remember when that last happened.
We dropped off Meredith at school, ran a multitude of errands, and had lunch together at Subway. Alex LOVES Subway. I’m not sure if it’s the actual food or the fact that he thinks their $5 footlong is of exceptional value.
It was nice to be able to sit through a meal with Alex and just be able to talk. I wasn’t quizzing him about his day after a long day at school. I didn’t have to referee. I didn’t have to get up from the table twelve times to refill milk glasses and get extra napkins.
As we were eating, a mom came in with two little blond haired boys. They were twins and probably about three years old. I couldn’t help but think how it had been such a short time ago that I had a three year old little blond boy who I was free to spend each day with. I’ve said it a thousand times, but it all just goes by in the blink of an eye.
Before we headed home, we picked up Alex’s homework from school. We cannot afford to sacrifice momentum in spelling. While I was at the school, my favorite secretary, Penny, broke the news to me that a sweet little girl in Alex’s class lost her daddy to colon cancer the night before.
We all knew it was coming, and his story was eerily similar to Linda’s, but it’s still hard to think about a little girl losing her dad at such a young age. Penny looked at me and said, “You know, I’m 47 and I still have my dad. I don’t want to loose my dad now. The poor kid is in second grade.” I pulled my sunglasses off their perch on the top of my head and wore them in the office. I probably looked like the uni-bomber.
Alex has been fever free for over 24 hours, so tomorrow he’ll head back to school. Meredith and I are meeting a friend for brunch and then she has a class at the Children’s Museum. I may finally give in and pick up a copy of "Twilight" on the way. I have an hour and a half to kill while she’s in class. If I really wanted to be productive, I’d load all my laundry that needs to be folded into the Tahoe and sit in the car and fold the entire time. Wait! It just occurred to me I could sit in the car and watch a movie. Oh, the possibilities are endless…
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1 comment:
It is a shame about Tony passing - I wondered if his little girl went to your school. It is all such a shame - cancer sucks. So glad you had a day with your boy - they are few and far between around here, but I love it when they happen. I often look at the little hand tracing I did of Jon when he was 2 and I can't believe that little baby is the little boy before me. Half the battle is just taking those moments to cherish when you feel them!
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