Kid and Caboodle

This afternoon I spent a few hours outside with my son and two of my neighbor’s kids. At one point all three boys were busy drawing chalk pictures in the middle of the cul-de-sac. One of my neighbor’s kids, who is about 8, drew a picture of himself and his parents. “How cute,” I thought at first. Then he wrote at the top, “I miss my dad. I love my mom and dad.”

When I asked him about the note, he said that for the next two weeks his father would be away on a long business trip … again.

My neighbor’s other son, who is around 4, then also drew a picture of their father.

Not to be outdone, my son wrote, “I love Dad.” Then he drew a picture of me and wrote, “You (referring to my husband) love Mom.” Note that he didn’t write, “I love Mom.” Hmm.

Today A.J. and I went over to the home of one of his classmates. The two kids seemed to get along very well, and I enjoyed socializing with his classmate’s mother, who is Chinese. Both A.J. and his classmate are only children, so I think it was good for them to have the opportunity to play with someone else of the same age.  Apparently they are only one month apart. The classmate’s mother and I talked about the types of food our kids like to eat. It seems that A.J.’s classmate only likes to eat Chinese food, and fresh fruit. This is a healthy habit, but it is causing some concern at school because A.J.’s classmate won’t eat most of what the school serves at lunchtime. I noted that it is possible to eat healthily in different cuisines. Because the classmate’s mother is Chinese, though, that is the only style of cooking she knows. Being Chinese, she also doesn’t like dairy products or raw vegetables. I did find it interesting that she not only served the kids a big plate of fresh watermelon, but also chips and cookies, though!

We plan to invite A.J.’s classmate and his mother over for a playdate in return soon. Perhaps I will take the opportunity to introduce them to some healthy, but non-Chinese snacks.

I am really proud of my son today. This morning we did a test run of the schedule he will start next week, which will be a lot tighter than it is now. I have been getting him up around 7:15 every morning and getting him out the door about 8:45. This morning, though, my son got himself up at 6:37, ate all his breakfast, got himself changed after breakfast, brushed his own teeth, got his shoes and coat on by himself, and got in the car and sat in his car seat by himself. We got out of the house at 7:39, and got to his school by 7:52. I was very impressed and told him he had earned “two gold stars” for being so cooperative. (I don’t actually have any gold stars to give him, but I intend to go buy some ASAP.)

This evening my son also behaved very well. Due to a problem with the subway, my husband couldn’t pick him up before the school was scheduled to close. A co-worker and neighbor who works an earlier shift than I do — at least for now — offered to pick him up for me. My son, who is very wary of strangers, asked her to call me at the office so I could reassure him that it was ok for him to go with her rather than waiting for my husband. She reported that he continued to watch her warily, but did not make a fuss when she put him in the car. I am very proud that my son remained cautious and checked with me about this person who was a stranger to him before letting her take him away from the school. I am also very proud about how well-behaved he was with her after I reassured him that it was ok to go with her. (My husband ended up arriving at his car at about the same time my co-worker picked up my son from the school, so they simply arranged a location to meet.)

Things worked well tonight, but the next time the subway delays us I think I might ask a different neighbor, whom my son knows, to pick him up from school.