remains of the day

I just finished reading a book, a memoir, that was written entirely in clips you'd read as a facebook status or maybe a tweet. It was like reading a photo album of words and I really liked it. One of the things she mentions is how you have your "last" with your kids and sometimes you didn't even know it was you "last." Like the last time they need your help bathing. Or the last time you get up with them in the middle of the night. The last time they need something from you...

Pirate and I, we've been best buddies and constant companions for three and a half years now. He's never been one night without me. In fact, if I'm out to book club or a gno he makes his best effort to stay awake so he can tell me about the remains of his day before drifting off. He's been known to physically hold his eye-lids open and chant "Wait until mom gets home. Wait until mom gets home."

And soon, without any real foreknowledge, we're going to have our "last" day of just the two of us. I hope we end on a good one. Today was hit and miss. He was either super sweet and happy or in the middle of a melt-down.

We started our day with a trip to Target. He happily sang "Blue's Clues's" in the cart for the first half of our shopping and then he was a laughing his little head off, hooting train whistle for the second. Dressed in his bright blue rain boots and his dad's cowboy hat singing and laughing and hooting, he really was being as cute as the people around me kept saying.

A bit later we pulled into Once Upon A Child and he said, "Jesus made this store. He made it for us because he loves us and he wants us to be happy." -It's good to know he's at least partly listening.

Even later in the day, on a whim I decided to check Goodwill for something. The entire time in the store he sang "I am a Child of God" and my heart both swelled and melted at the same time. He asked to see the toys and when I pushed the cart past a little car toy identical to the one in Toy Story he exclaimed his NEED to have it. He explained it's the exact thing he's been looking for. The $1 price tag wasn't too intimidating so I handed it over to him. He clutched that thing! He showed it off to the cashier. He talked about it on the way home.

Then, as soon as was humanly possible, he put it on the floor in our kitchen, gave it a push and promptly burst into tears. "No!! No. No. It doesn't work!" He stomped his feet. "It's supposed to go fast!" I sent him to his room to finish his sorrows. He clearly had expectations that the car would do what it does in the movie. It took an hour and a half for him to touch it again. By then, he'd gotten over his disappointment and now we're currently on the hunt for his Woody doll which has gone missing.

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Other things I'd like to remember:

Last night as I was tucking him in I said, "I love you, Pirate." And as I was leaving he said, "I love you too mom." So of course I had to "Aww." and go back and give him another hug and kiss. Then he said, "You're just like a princess." Aww.

Lately if he's doing something he shouldn't be, he'll tell me "Don't talk to me mom. No more talking to me." OR if I ask him to do something he doesn't want to do (or stop doing something he does want to do) he'll tell me, "I'm sorry mom. I don't hear you. I can't hear you mom."

One day he brought me my bra and said, "Mom. I found your eye-brow! Here you go!"

He says:
Flute instead of fruit.
Ex-camater instead of elevator.
Sunbeeps instead of Sunbeams.

On Sunday we were late (for the first time in the history of our family it was NOT my fault!) and had to sit in the foyer. On the couch some kid had left this puzzle-ball thing that Pirate found and immediately began playing with. He referred to it as his new toy, so we corrected him explaining that he could play with it for now, but he'd have to leave it on the couch where he found it so the person who lost it could come back and find it. It took him a second, but then when it clicked he pointed his little finger high in the air and exclaimed, "We have a mystery!!" (Busytown Mysteries is a new favorite show around here.)