Special Time

I was a little curious to see how it would go with just Mr. Trouble on Feet as an only child for ten days while his siblings were with Grandma Kathy.  On one hand, Mr. TOF loves one on one attention, and we have some great routines that we are used to while the big kids are at school for most of the year.  On the other hand, Mr. TOF is not always great at entertaining himself, and he really does enjoy interacting with his siblings.  Three quarters of those interactions are positive and great because his brothers and sisters  are entertaining people (sometimes I feel like I live in a dramatic family sitcom), and about one fourth of those interactions are frustrating.  Mr. TOF is well versed in frustrating siblings, and he has is own agenda about how to capitalize on that.

To make things even more interesting, I was pretty much home alone with Mr. TOF the entire time the other kids were gone, because Dr. Peds was working and working.

In the end, though, we had an absolutely marvelous time!  Mr. TOF and I  spent a lot of time relaxing, reading and snuggling.  We took big naps every day (both of us!) and had special excursions, like bike rides around the neighborhood and to the duck pond at the cemetery, trips to get ice cream, trips to the beach.  We canvased the neighborhood together delivering flyers for the Independence Day Parade, and we had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with some very special friends.  Perhaps the best afternoon of all was when we were honored to go to the airport with two of Mr. TOF’s best friends to welcome their parents and new brother who just arrived from China.  There are few things more exciting than that, even though it was disappointing to not actually see the plane land on the runway because the windows faced the wrong direction.

Amazingly, we struck a wonderful balance of time spent doing things together and independent play.  Mr. TOF entertained himself playing in the yard, playing in the sandbox, playing with toys inside.  It was exciting to see his ability to entertain himself blossom and grow.

I loved being able to focus on Mr. TOF a bit more exclusively during some of his last days of being three years old.  Sometimes I’m shocked that he’s not a baby or toddler anymore, but at the same time, those feelings are mixed with such a sincere and searing love for the attributes of this boy and who he is becoming:  a gentle little person with great ideas and a love for people.  He has such an incredible sense of gratitude for what he has and experiences.   I’m not sure where that came from and why it is sometimes missing in my other kidlets and often in myself, actually, but I sure do love seeing and hearing about how thankful this boy is for what he gets to do.