Something about the summer months seems to have transformed my kids ever so slightly. David, in particular. He had the opportunity to spend some quality "guy time" with Glen up at the apartment in Newark two weeks before school started. Elizabeth and I hung around doing girl stuff. You know ... shopping, eating, spending tons of cash at the L.A. County Fair on rides. That sort of thing. But Glen and David had a magical time together; and when they were not hanging out (like, say, when Glen was at work), David enjoyed some intense and fabulous quality time with Meme and Pepe (also known as Glen's parents, Mary and Bob). Trips to the Lego Store in San Jose were added to the mix. It was a good time.
Perhaps, too, it's the transformative effect that second grade has had on my little man. This little boy is turning out to be quite the little man. For example: on Friday evening, David devised a small fort in the hallway on the second floor of our house. It was comprised mainly of the kids' indoor play tent, a few stools, their kid-sized Pottery Barn chairs, pillows and a sleeping bag. It was a pint-sized Man Cave. He was in his element. On Saturday morning, the kids woke up, and proceeded to play as usual, while Glen and I tried our best to sneak in a few more minutes of shut-eye. As is typical, a small amount of bickering could be heard from outside our bedroom. Then crying. Then both David and Elizabeth stormed into our bedroom.
Elizabeth: "David won't let me play in his fort!"
David: "But it's my fort."
Elizabeth: "But I want to put my sleeping bag in!"
David: "But, I have it all arranged and I'm not sure it will fit."
Mommy: "Work it out, you two."
Not five minutes had passed, when I overheard David proclaim triumphantly, "Elizabeth! We made it work! Good teamwork!" He strode happily into our room again, and declared, "Mommy! Elizabeth and I worked as a team and with a little bit of work now both of our sleeping bags fit! Come take a look!"
Teamwork? Purposefully put into action by a seven year old? Who knows what it means?
WHOO HOO!!!
And, lo and behold, their new fort could accommodate two people ... er, kids.
At the ripe old age of 7.11, David never ceases to amaze me.
But his - and his sister's ... and his father's - ability to still be a kid is very much in tact, which is a good thing. Case in point: fast forward a few hours. I did a few errands in Los Angeles that morning, and upon my arrival home, the house was very quiet. Too quiet.
"Hello?" I called.
"Upstairs!" called Glen.
I hesitated, but went upstairs anyway. Greeting me at the top of the stairs were seven Zhu Zhu pets, lined up in a row, and staring at me with their beady, plastic eyes. This disturbed me. From under a now much larger fort, I saw movement. And then slowly, through a crack between blankets that served as an extended tent, came the barrel of a Nerf machine gun.
I would have been toast had the Nerf device not malfunctioned.
The kids - and their father - couldn't take it anymore, and fell into side-splitting giggles. All of them were still in their jammies.
The deliciously kid-like behavior continued well into the rest of the day, where we spent the better part of our evening, and money, at the L.A. County Fair. There were hot dogs to eat, grilled cheese sandwiches to absorb, popcorn to munch, cherry sno-cones to spill, corn on the cob to hork down without any shred of dignity, and, of course, ice cream to savor. Ferris wheels, merry-go-rounds, climbing walls, mini-roller coasters, and log rides all beckoned. Oh, and we took in a Victoria Justice concert, too.
By the time we took Glen back to the airport on Sunday night, it was a weekend well spent ... one that reminds me of how precious these moments are while David and Elizabeth are still little, while also reminding me of 1) how very grown up my David is becoming. 2) how much sweeter it is when Glen is home, and 3) how much I cherish family time.
