I had a decent day today. I think I’ve caught up on all the sleep that I’d been missing, trying to transition into a more nocturnal rhythm, and balancing that against having to be awake at certain times throughout the day, because apparently it’s frowned upon to let your child wait an extra hour at his school after classes finish for the day. I have nothing but the utmost respect for my wife, who has been walking this tightrope for the past two years, in addition to entertaining our grandson, and doing laundry, and grocery shopping, and never quite getting around to actually sleeping more than just a couple hours in the predawn morning, and again after she brings the Minkey home from school. I thought that everything was going swimmingly, heading into Wednesday, and that I could keep up with the pace I’d set myself, but when my wife returned to work that evening, my writing couldn’t start until almost 10pm, and by then I was exhausted, having spent almost three hours trying to convince my son that it was bedtime. Yesterday was a complete wash, as I couldn’t even think straight, and everything I tried to write just withered on the page after about 300 words.
So to celebrate a good night’s sleep, I went to Redbox and picked us up a couple movies. Of course, Guardians of the Galaxy was out of stock (and will probably remain so for at least a little while), so I settled for X-Men: Days of Future Past (primarily because of the hilarious send-up Honest Movie Trailers did a while ago), and The Giver, which was my reward to David for letting me get through that entire book when I was trying to read it to him. I was curious to see his reaction to the way movies usually butcher the source material, and see if he would prove himself a true reader with the utterance, “The book was better.”
It was still fairly early in the afternoon, and I could only imagine how little sleep my wife had managed, as she was still awake when I finally had passed out, and yet never woke me up this morning when it was time to take David to school. I knew he actually went to school due to a noticeable peace and quiet in the room, save from the saw mill horizontally splayed upon the bed beside me, when I finally acquiesced to my bladder’s demands for action around 1:30 this afternoon. Knowing that she normally gets roped into volunteering at the school, or volunteering here at home, I figured she’d probably only just laid down to bed, and decided to just go get David, and then take him with me as I ran my errands, so as to buy my beloved at least a couple of hours more to dream.
His class is most often the last class to appear after the final bell has rung (although it’s really more of an automated buzzer that can be heard half a mile away with clarity), unless either we are somehow running a little late, in which case we are chastised for for having not been there since final dismissal, with no acknowledgement of early arrivals almost every other day. And so it goes. I told him we were going on an adventure, so if he had to use the potty, five minutes ago was really the ideal time. He said he was fine, so off we went upon our epic journey through the very heart of Not-Quite-Richmond, CA.
“Where are we going? he asked at least a half a dozen times. “Are we going to McDonald’s?”
“I told you already, David.” I explained for now, the seventh time, “We’re dropping something off at the Post Office, walking up to just past the Subway, and then coming back to get some beverages at Walgreens.”
“But then can we go to McDonald’s?”
I let him put the envelope in the collection box, noting that the final pickup was at 5 o’clock. One errand down and two to go. “Okay,” I said, “we’re going to my store now.”
“Is it far?”
“Just up past Subway, almost to your doctor’s office.”
“But I don’t have to go to the doctor today.”
“Didn’t you have an appointment this morning? Hey, how’d it go anyway?”
“Oh, no… they called Mommy and cancelled.”
“Um… okay, so then…” I paused, not really wanting to ask him any more about it, as his answers most likely wouldn’t get me any closer to the truth than my own imagination. “Well, you know we’re not actually going there. I’m letting you know roundabouts where we’re headed.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
We chatted about how his test in school went, and some of the trouble I got into when I was still in school. We agreed that math is easy, and that it probably wouldn’t hurt him to put a little bit more effort into his attempts at pen(cil)smanship. “So Mommy said that I’m going to get a computer for my birthday.” He said, out of the blue.
“Okay,” I replied, “You know that’s, like, half a year away, right?”
“Well, I was thinking that maybe I could have it for Christmas…”
“If it’s going to be a birthday present, why would you think that you could get it for Christmas?”
“Because I want it.”
“Well, okay then.”
“I also want LEGO Batman 3.”
“I know, honey, me too. But it’s still really expensive.”
“You said I’d get it for Christmas…”
“No, I said that you might get it for Christmas. But I really can’t afford it right now.”
“Maybe Santa can bring it for me!”
“You know he doesn’t do electronics or software, right?”
“What about a robot?”
“Is it a toy, or a real robot?”
“A real robot.”
“Then no, David, he can’t get that made for you.”
“Okay, it’s a toy robot.”
“I think Santa might be able to swing that.”
We arrived at our secondary destination, where I stocked up on cigarettes for my trip up to Seattle, as I’m not going to pay $3 more a pack for nicotine. I got him a Gatorade for going above and beyond the call of childhood, and not needing to use the bathroom even once in the past half hour since I had gotten him from school. Our second errand run, we turned around and headed home, with a pit stop at Walgreens along the way.
TO BE CONTINUED…