The Last Day of Summer

I asked The Boy what he wanted to do today, on his last day of Summer.  I offered several of his favorite outings, but all he wanted to do was stay at home and play with me.

It is pretty rare that I honor the request to play knights or robots anymore, but how could I not?  The Daddy and The Girl took a nap and The Boy and I played.  For almost two hours, he had my undivided attention as a playmate.  We played knights and robots (a game I didn’t know could involve both), we explored outside, I pushed him on the swing and he sang me a song, we sailed on a ship, played in the castle, read books, and just enjoyed each other’s company.

Even though he didn’t really want to talk too much about school today, I know it was on his mind.  But there’s plenty of time to talk about school tomorrow.  Today we played.

The Monkeys had a hard time falling asleep tonight.  I rocked and held The Girl for the longest time until she finally fell asleep.  I peeked up at The Boy on his top bunk, to say my usual “sweet dreams” but he had finally fallen asleep, too.  I couldn’t help but climb up there with him for a few minutes.  As I did he muttered sleepily, “Iloveyoumom” as if it were all one word.

I have to keep reminding myself that he is only going to school.  He’s not leaving forever. But I also have to remember that from now on, there is a part of his day that will be a mystery to me.  That I will not know about.  That will be all his.  It’s good for him.  And for me.

And who’s to say we can’t play knights after school?