Expect a Call Later
He said he’d be alright, that everything was fine. He barely looked back. Then he turned and ran up to me, jumped into my outstretched arms and gave me a hug and a kiss. “That’s for later. I hope you have fun,” he said to me.
I was torn between celebrating the occasion or nonchalantly passing it off as commonplace. I chose the latter, hoping that by not drawing too much attention he wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. I feared he had yet to grasp the reality of what was about to take place. In his small voice, childlike and innocent, he reassured me. Confident. He was ready. He’d be fine.
Two weeks ago, Zane turned six years old. Tonight, he is away from me, from Mom, from sisters and brother. He is away from us all for the very first time. He is spending the night with his aunt and uncle who, for his birthday, got him tickets to see the Clippers, our local minor league baseball team. First pitch was not until 7:05pm and therefore he is staying with them and will return home in the morning.
He told me before I left that he’d call before I went to bed, “you know. To make sure you’re OK and to tell you goodnight.”
As promised, he called. I lied and told him everything here was great. (I miss him terribly.) Then he broke my heart. I asked if he had scored any autographs (tonight was autograph night with Major League greats on hand to sign). He matter-of-factly said, “Yeah. I got them all. Two times.”
“You got them to sign twice?” I asked.
“Yeah, I got one for me and one for Grandma.”
My little boy is away from me tonight, for the first time. He’s not concerned about being alone, though. He’s too busy trying to do something nice for his grandmother and making sure that I’m OK without him.
Sounds like a very cool little man you have there…worried about his Dad and all!
I admire you for lying to him; you’re a good dad. I can’t say enough how awesome it is that you knew enough to do that. I know that’s a no-brainer to you (and to me), but it’s hard, and not all adults have the skills or character to put the needs of their child first. Loved this post.
Growing pains. Not his, yours. Those can stir up a mix of emotions can’t they? He sounds like quite a great little guy.
Sounds to me like he’s a chip off the ole block…..
Those milestones just keep coming and mean so much more to us than them, and hurt us more, I think. I nearly had a screaming panic attack when my kid tried driving a stick for the first time the other day, and not because she was doing so badly, but all that metal and speed and power and she’s so small and helpless and…*sigh*
Is Grandma named eBay?
That’s very sweet. It’s nice to know that milestones keep coming.
They can throw us for a loop sometimes, can’t they?
Aw… sounds like your son is a lot like you
Great post.
I read this post outloud to Joe this morning and a few tears slipped out. Your son is the sweetest boy I’ve ever met!
Oh, why do they have to grow up so fast??