Tuesday II – A Boy Stuck In Time
Oct. 21st, 2008 02:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninanevermore.
.
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A funny thing happened two weeks ago while I was stuck at the office: the infant I brought home from the hospital transitioned into a 4 year old boy. Due to circumstances beyond my control, he was 3 years old for a year and a day, and will only be 4 years old for 364 days. Time has a way of getting out of whack in our lives.
I'm been swamped at work for the last month, and just when I think I'm catching my breath I find myself up to my eyeballs in things that needed to be done a week (or a month, or two months) ago, but that I am just now getting around to. On my husband's nights off, he has been taking care of our son and on some nights I made it home just in time for bedtime stories and a kiss good night. On the 8th, which was my son's birthday, I figured the least I could do was leave work at a reasonable hour and spend an evening at Chuck E. Cheeses eating bad pizza and playing child friendly arcade games. I had the best intentions, but it seems I ran over a nail on my way into to work that morning, and my tire was completely flat. By the time I reached Jeff and he drove into town to rescue me (which served him right, for not paying the AAA membership fee when I asked him to), it was too late to do any celebrating. We had dinner at a restaurant in the city, and got home at 10 PM, much too late for birthday cake or the excitement of presents.
"We'll do it tomorrow," we told my son.
That night, as we got him ready for bed, we asked him how old he was.
"I'm tree," he said without missing a beat.
"You're not three anymore, you're four," I told him.
He shook his head. "I'll be four after I have a birthday," he said, "Right now I'm tree."
"Today is your birthday," Jeff told him.
"It's true," I said, "As of today, you're four."
He looked at his father's face and then at mine with that sad expression you reserve for idiots who fail to grasp the obvious. "I'll be four after I have a birthday," he repeated, slowly and deliberately, "I haven't had a birthday, so I'm tree."
As a 39-year-old woman, I can completely respect this logic. No cake, no gifts, no getting older. My boy is a genius.
The next evening, I managed to get out of the office, and we did have cake and presents for my little boy, so he did not have to remain stuck in time forever. Afterward, when we asked his age, he told us he was four.
The secret to eternal youth? It's not as mysterious as some folks would have you believe. All it takes is a mindset that says that until you have the respect and recognition you deserve, you are staying right where you are and all the laws of time and nature will not be enough to move you.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * # * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
.
.
A funny thing happened two weeks ago while I was stuck at the office: the infant I brought home from the hospital transitioned into a 4 year old boy. Due to circumstances beyond my control, he was 3 years old for a year and a day, and will only be 4 years old for 364 days. Time has a way of getting out of whack in our lives.
I'm been swamped at work for the last month, and just when I think I'm catching my breath I find myself up to my eyeballs in things that needed to be done a week (or a month, or two months) ago, but that I am just now getting around to. On my husband's nights off, he has been taking care of our son and on some nights I made it home just in time for bedtime stories and a kiss good night. On the 8th, which was my son's birthday, I figured the least I could do was leave work at a reasonable hour and spend an evening at Chuck E. Cheeses eating bad pizza and playing child friendly arcade games. I had the best intentions, but it seems I ran over a nail on my way into to work that morning, and my tire was completely flat. By the time I reached Jeff and he drove into town to rescue me (which served him right, for not paying the AAA membership fee when I asked him to), it was too late to do any celebrating. We had dinner at a restaurant in the city, and got home at 10 PM, much too late for birthday cake or the excitement of presents.
"We'll do it tomorrow," we told my son.
That night, as we got him ready for bed, we asked him how old he was.
"I'm tree," he said without missing a beat.
"You're not three anymore, you're four," I told him.
He shook his head. "I'll be four after I have a birthday," he said, "Right now I'm tree."
"Today is your birthday," Jeff told him.
"It's true," I said, "As of today, you're four."
He looked at his father's face and then at mine with that sad expression you reserve for idiots who fail to grasp the obvious. "I'll be four after I have a birthday," he repeated, slowly and deliberately, "I haven't had a birthday, so I'm tree."
As a 39-year-old woman, I can completely respect this logic. No cake, no gifts, no getting older. My boy is a genius.
The next evening, I managed to get out of the office, and we did have cake and presents for my little boy, so he did not have to remain stuck in time forever. Afterward, when we asked his age, he told us he was four.
The secret to eternal youth? It's not as mysterious as some folks would have you believe. All it takes is a mindset that says that until you have the respect and recognition you deserve, you are staying right where you are and all the laws of time and nature will not be enough to move you.
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respect and recognition
Date: 2008-10-21 07:58 pm (UTC)Re: respect and recognition
Date: 2008-10-21 08:32 pm (UTC)Out of the mouths of babes.......
Date: 2008-10-21 08:14 pm (UTC)Re: Out of the mouths of babes.......
Date: 2008-10-21 08:33 pm (UTC)Re: Out of the mouths of babes.......
Date: 2008-10-21 08:38 pm (UTC)Re: Out of the mouths of babes.......
Date: 2008-10-21 08:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-21 11:36 pm (UTC)Happy Birthday bright lil star.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-22 04:32 pm (UTC)He did have a happy day-after-his birthday, and a bonus birthday at his grandfather's house the next weekend. It was enough to convince him he is now 4, and no longer a "little" boy, but a big one (though not too big for me to pick up and carry in my arms). :)
no subject
Date: 2008-10-22 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-22 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-22 04:28 pm (UTC)*HUGS*
no subject
Date: 2008-10-22 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-29 04:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-29 05:51 pm (UTC)