It was late enough at night, and I went to check on the boys because there was still some quiet murmuring from their room. When I arrived, it turns out there were quiet tears from Erick.
"I don't want to grow up, Mommy. I want to stay five," he said.
"Honey, where is this coming from? Why are you so upset?"
"We are practicing for graduation, and we sing about being so small and so strong," he sobbed. "I wanna stay five forever!"
There is a pause. I am not sure what to say.
Erick continues, tearfully, "The kindergartners just stay in a little room, all day. I don't wanna get older. Then I have to go to kindergarten. And then big school. And then college!" Deep sob and breath, "And I don't even know what college is!"
I suppressed my laughter at this point, despite the obvious severity of the the tragic realization of aging in my son's life.
"Oh, Erick. It will be okay. College is where mommy goes now. There are so many things to look forward to as you get older. But you do not need to get old too quickly. Let's take it one step at a time. Just remember to be a kid for a while."
"Mommy, I don't want to leave. I just want to stay here with you and Daddy."
Hmmmmmm, we hadn't really planned on that. You five and us maybe seventy-five--not exactly ideal. Life would not be what you expected. "Erick, our mommies and daddies let us go to college, and then we met each other. And then we got married. Now we have you and your brother. We wouldn't have you if we didn't go to college. These are the things you can look forward to. It will be okay."
Two days later.......
Erick is talking about kindergarten.
"So, Erick, you're okay with going to kindergarten?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I can go to college, too," he replied.
"Good," I thought, "but you don't even know what college is."
No comments:
Post a Comment