Frecklewonder

a date

mister henry. growing up so fast. why do kids have to grow up so darn fast?

last weekend, henry and i went out on a date, just me and him. it had been a while, and it was so nice to be out alone, just with him. no interruptions. no holding of that thought mister henry while i tend to your sister. just a nice one on one, concentrated time with a boy i adore.

we went to see where the wild things are. we crunched popcorn and ate goobers and shared a coke and smiled at each other in the dark. we loved the movie. at one point, when max first arrives at the wild things, henry turned to me and said, "this is kinda scary!" and i said, "i know!!!" and there were other moments where i felt like i might cry. that whole don't go, i could eat you up i love you so business was a little too much. it's exactly how i feel.

our date was perfect. and it was all i could do to not reach over and hold his hand. or scoop him up and snuggle him in my lap. he would have been ok with that, i think. at least the hand holding part. he probably would have looked at me weirdly if i asked him to sit in my lap, what with the small movie theater seats and all. and sometimes (a lot lately) i look at him, and it's like a punch in the gut- he's growing up so fast. he is such a young man. where did the time go? and wow, we need to make more time for these dates. but then i realize that even though he is tall (so tall) and stands as high as my shoulder (my shoulder!) and even though i am beginning to confuse his shirts with his dad's when i fold the laundry, he is still my little boy.

my little baby henry.

the cutest thing

so here's a little something about me. nothing makes me cry more than the good things. i mean, of course i will cry over anything sad, and i guess in general, i am a heart-on-my-sleeve kinda girl. but the real bite-my-cheek-to-keep-from-crying, oh-lordies-here-come-the-waterworks moments are usually related to my kiddos, and most often when i am feeling super proud. those are usually the tears that i can not hold back. that mom that cried at her son's kindergarten graduation? that's me. the mom in the crowd shedding a few tears during that first grade holiday concert? yep, me. i just can't help myself. these tears have a name in our house, and we all know 'em pretty well by now. we call them The Happy Tears. 

so henry's working on one of his first assignments of his third grade year: a little project on Heritage. he is supposed to interview his grandparents, aunts + uncles, and any other older relatives. questions about where they came from, what foods they ate when they were young, how they dressed, what music did they listened to, stuff like that.

since only my mom and dad live in town, henry had to send out some emails last night to his grandparents in minnesota, wyoming and norfolk, va. and by this morning, he's gotten all of his responses back. i laughed and yes, got a little misty at these emails from my parents and from matt's. they were the sweetest images, as our parents reminisced on days from their childhood- some of the stories were so cute to imagine. and what's nice is that matt and i learned some things too. funny how you don't necessarily think to ask your own parents what their favorite food was as a child, but it sure is heart warming to hear about it.

cheers to mrs willis for such a charming homework assignment.

hello, santa? we'll take a size 3.

while running errands yesterday with dot, i decided to pop into target to see if i could pick up anything on the cheap for an early fall wardrobe. mostly, i'm on the hunt for a decent pair of pants/jeans that fit. i'm not quite at my prepreggo size and sadly, have found that the 'bounce back' doesn't happen as quickly or easily as it did the first time around, but that's a rant for a different day.

so, when i was there, i couldn't help but overhear what i found to be a really disturbing exchange between a pair of parents and their couple of kids while i was browsing the kid's section.

mom, impatiently: let's try them you on so santa knows what size to bring you!!!
dad: yeah! if he doesn't know what size he won't bring them to you at christmas time!!!
toddler with pacifier in her mouth: screaaaaam, mommmmm, noooooo, mamamamamama i want them nowwwwwww
mom (proceeds to put cell phone to her ear and make phony phone call to santa): hello, santa?
little toddler: wahhhh, nooooo!!!! i wannnnnnt!!!!! wahhhh! scream cry wahhhh the booooots the booooootssssss!!!!
dad, sing songy slightly mean tone: santa's not going to bring you those boots!!!!! he's coming to target and if he doesn't know what size you wear, you're not getting them!!!!!!!!!

and on, and on.
really, it was quite a scene. it was loud and totally weird and i had to make a real effort to a) pretend i wasn't totally watching and taking notes and b) not make that face that i make when something makes me cringe. a sort of a clenched jaw, squinted eye, scrunched look. and believe me, it wasn't easy.

so really, so many questions.
why shop around for something in SEPTEMBER and dangle it in front of a 3 year old for a holiday that is months away? i'm all about the idea of shopping year round and just setting it aside, really. but why make the little 3 year old a part of it? and why the phony phone call? seriously, a fake, phony convo with santa clause? why the guilt and manipulation? both parents had this sort of awful nagging, impatient tone that was just killing me and everyone else within an earshot. and while it was all going on, there stood their other kids-obviously school aged and obviously not in school. instead stuck watching this bizarre showdown between their parents + baby sister in the middle of the kid's clothing section during lunch hour. and something about the looks on their faces said *snooooooze* like they'd seen it a thousand times before.

so. after trying on at least 7 pairs of pants plus a dress, i left with nothing. nothing really but the promise that i will never behave that way with my kids. which i suppose is a whole lot better than finding pants that fit? yes. i did however stop into the goodwill on the way home and unearthed a mint condition bonnie prudden workout record to add to my collection. so, if i get down with bonnie each morning, maybe i won't have to shop for new jeans. i will actually be able to slip on my choice from that stack that currently sits at the top of my closet mocking my wonky postpartumness.