Tuesday, June 29, 2010

sleep over


Last week, Jack was over the moon excited to have his friend Lucas over for his first sleep over.

There was pizza (from Rocco's, of course). And chippies. With chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

Lots and lots of legos. And some Mario on the Wii. Poptropica. And Lego videos on YouTube.

Lightsaber duels. Laughter. And staying up until 11. Sleeping in Jack's Clone Wars tent.

Pure happiness.

And, I knew the day would come when it would be Jack's turn to go. To spend the night at another home (that wasn't Nan and PapPap's). And can you ever be ready for your baby to grow?

Well, that moment caught me completely off guard yesterday morning. Lucas called and asked Jack to come over at 6ish for a sleepover.

And I gulped. And smiled. And told my sweet baby, Sure.

He packed and counted down the hours. That went by painfully slow in his seven year old world. A great opportunity to teach him how to tell time. If he wasn't dying to get out the door five minutes ago.

I went up to his bedroom to check what he had packed. Socks, underwear, clothes for tomorrow, and jammies. Legos, of course. And a squirt gun (for a water battle).

And there, on the bed sat his blue, green and Junior. And I caught my breath. Those are his buddies. The comforts he has slept with since birth. And I felt sick. My baby, growing. Confident. Ready to the world. And, I mean, that's a great thing. He should be ready. And confident.

So I asked him four different times if he had anything he needed. And he assured me he had everything. Including a head lamp for the darkness.

And the boy who cannot remember his library books for school. . .or his homework sheet on the dining room table. . .had thought of everything.

So I wrote down home and cell phone numbers and stuck them in his backpack. Assuring him he could call any time. And to call me to say goodnight. And to be a good boy. So that he could be invited back (do I really want that?).

And he promised he would be fine.

I'm going to miss you like crazy, I said as he loaded his bags into the vini man.

Oh Mama, he rolled his eyes. I'm only going to be gone one night.

I know. I can't help it.

I went back to packing diapers and lightning macqueen (for Luke). And keeping busy.

And as we loaded into the van, he looked at me and said, Mama, I'm going to miss you like crazy too.

And that made my heart smile.

We all missed him last night. Luke expecially. He said, There are only four of us. Our number five is not here. I miss Jack.

And at 1:55 am the phone rang.

Mama, I forgot the three important things I need to sleep.

I know. Can you sleep without them?

No.

OK, then I'll be there with your buddies.

And bleary eyed, I loaded into the vini man and drove over to Lucas'. Wondering if ghosts roam the streets at this time of night. And if they might want to hitch a ride when I drove past. [Your mind does terrible things in the middle of the night when you are awakened from dreaming.]

I arrived to find they hadn't slept yet. Still laughing. Playing Legos. Jack's bag full of important items all over the floor [he had been flinging his underwear Captain Underpants style].

Having a wonderful time.

And I got to hug him goodnight.

And returned home at 3am. Assured that he was safe and having a wonderful boy time.

And that maybe he wasn't growing so big after all.

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