2.06.2007



SO FAST INDEED: Something changed in our house this morning.

C.J., the nearly five-year-old, has been sick. Fever. Cough. Miserable.

Eileen took Mikey, the two-year-old, to a mom-'n'-tot class this morning, so I stayed home with old Sicky. Nothing like having Dad around to make a sick kid feel better. Right?

"I'm staying with you this morning," I told him, "but I have to do a work phone call at 10."

"Okay."

He didn't seem too heartbroken.

"So I'll need you to play by yourself for about a half hour."

"Fine," he said. "I'll play Wii."

Not very heartbroken at all.

After I finished the call, I took a couple of those little 8 oz. bottles of Coke down to the basement, his lair. I popped the cap on one for each of us, and we shared a father-son, glass-bottle-of-Coke moment. A good time was had by all. I mussed his hair, while he fixated on his favorite Noggin show, "Wow Wow Wubzie."

"Daddy?" he said.

"Yes, C.J."

"Go take a shower. I'm fine."

Have I already crossed the line from favored status to nuisance? My glass-bottle-of-Coke stunt has a shelf-life of five minutes? I had to laugh. And so I did.

Talk about your bittersweet moments.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

nuSorry CJ is sick, but obviously he's not too bad, since he can still think about the Wii. But, what I am curious about is the Coke in the morning. Is that a direct result of your never being allowed to have Coke in the morning? And, secondly, you are now experiencing the gradual weaning that one's children do from their parents. Fortunately, it is gradual, and one does adapt.