Saturday, October 31, 2009

You have nice parents


Truman called earlier in the day to see if we would be home so he could come over while his mom went shopping (there was no school on Friday.) He said it was torture to go to the store with his mom and walk through the toy section and not be allowed to touch anything. When the time came Asher decided to stay with us too. When they arrived, Aleene was gone, so I took charge. "No TV until we play Uno," I crowed. The boys love to watch our TV because we get some neat cartoons by pushing our "on demand" button...for free.

I cleared the coffee table and shuffled the deck and the three of us played three hands of Uno trying to keep Asher constrained by rules of the game. He really felt involved because he can match numbers and he began to see how to think ahead and plan with the cards in his hand. It was one of those precious times you get now and then when working with small children. It was the sign of an almost five year old growing up.

Aleene arrived home and we ate lunch (I ran out for sandwiches at the new Subway not far from us) with the boys sitting side by side in "my" big chair. It was cute: paper plates? check; sandwiches? check; drinks? check...as they watched a batch of Tom and Jerry cartoons.

Amy arrived and we adults ate standing up in the kitchen making sure the boys had what they needed to keep them in the chair. "More sandwich!" Another chunk delivered.

"Apple slices?" I asked. No comment...just chewing and TV watching. That was a dumb question...so I whacked a jonigold into thin slices and distributed them to their
plates...more chewing and no talking.

"Jello?" I asked and a quick "Yep" came back from the chair.

Lunch was done and away they went...mom, dog, Truman and Asher. Quiet (nap) time and a chance to get some things done on a Friday afternoon.

Before they left it was decided that we would ride with them to Macaroni Grill for supper. Amy had a gift card that was burning a whole in her pocket and invited us to share it. So fast forward in your mind to about 5:30 and the 20 minute drive to the outdoor mall to where Macaroni Grill and a plethora of other eating establishments reside. We parked in the parking garage and began the walk...not far, but far enough.

Asher was scooted up on his dad's back...sort of backpack style and Truman hung back with me bringing up the rear of the parade. "Put me on your shoulders," he asked. I thought of the distance to the restaurant and the foot traffic and the low hanging trees not to mention my back...and put him off. "Wait til we get closer and there aren't so many obstacles," I countered. I was thinking of my ability to get him up there with his long legs and his increasing poundage...ugh, I thought, but the connection was being made. He held my hand, which he rarely does voluntarily when we are on city outings...until it seemed appropriate to try to swing him up.

It took two tries, but up he went to his favorite early childhood spot when traveling with Pappy. He giggled and hollered at the crowd ahead. I was worried about getting him down...I could envision both of us tumbling...Truman is a big kid and I am not as agile as I used to be. But we found a bicycle rack outside the restaurant where he could stand and I could simply back away.

Into the restaurant we went...seated quickly and the crayons were put to work on the butcher paper. Our table was a rectangle and as it happened Asher and I were at opposite ends with the mothers on one side and Tru and Bren on the other. I made eye conctact with Asher and gave him the "I see you" sign you see sports stars and others give to family members. He continued his coloring and then looked up to his mom smiling and said, "You have nice parents."

The joys of grand-parenthood! Was it the moment or the day or was it the many hours we spend together as we journey through life? No matter. You take those precious moments when they come. And where else do you have a writing space big enough to write antidisestablishmentarianism as you leave those little tidbits of information for the next generation to pick up?

What a lovely evening out.

1 comment:

Amy Diehr said...

I love this story. I am so glad that you guys made Newberg your home - and obviously the boys are too! Tacoma Amy