Alright - before you go thinking I've turned all "self-help hippie" on y'all or abandoned this blog altogether, I need to get this post published. Cuz lots of good stuff is happening every day and I've not been writing about it. Shame on me.
Remember how I took Nick on a "Mommy Date"? A few weeks back it was Will's turn for a little one-on-one attention. When I reminded him that we could do anything his little heart desired - eat anywhere, do just about anything (except go waterskiing) - you know what the little dude said?
"I want to go swimming. With our friends."
Something we'd done 100 times this past summer. It was pretty darned adorable that he's really that happy with our "regular day-to-day" life, but I wanted him to have his own special day. I suggested we go mini golfing instead.
"Momma, you need a bigger golf club than me."
"Yep baby, you're right."
"Cuz you're taller than me. You know who's golf club is the BIGGEST?!?"
"Who's baby?"
"GOD'S. Its the biggest ever!"
The kid's a natural. Most four-year-olds don't have the patience to line up a putt and gauge just how hard is hard enough to hit the ball over the little hill but not over the lip on the other side.Will does.
And I'm not even exaggerating when I tell you MY CHILD GOT NOT ONE BUT TWO HOLES IN ONE.
TWO.
I've never gotten one...EVER. And I've been on this planet 29 years longer.
Afterward, with the sun starting to set, I pulled out my phone to do a search of nearby restaurants.
"Momma, can we go to Panera?"
Having no idea where the nearest Panera was, and having just found a burger and malt place a few blocks away on my phone, I simply muttered, "No bud. We're going to go try this burger place."
"But I don't want a burger place. I want a Panera place."
I admit it. I opted for the "Mommy fib".
"Buddy, there's not a Panera around here. Besides, we go there all the time. How bout a cheeseburger and a chocolate shake instead?"
At which point, of course, he shouted from the backseat, "YES THERE IS!!! THERE'S A PANERA RIGHT THERE!!!" because, of course, there WAS a Panera RIGHT THERE.
I simply admitted defeat by saying nothing and pulling into the lot.
Whereas Nick spent his dinner hour with me talking about Mommy and Daddy and his thoughts on our new living arrangements, his younger brother simply talked. Non-stop. About anything and everything that entered his brain -- no filter applied -- until the Mom of two little girls next to us just couldn't stop laughing at the number of statements he was making about her daughter's soccer shoes, what it must be like to have a sister, and mostly, what it must be like to be a girl.
"Yeah," I said, looking at her, "he's the little brother." She simply nodded, smiling, and I knew she completely understood.
