When people have their first children, they tend to remember the big things, like first steps, words, bumps on the head. Me, I tend to remember the little things.
My son, Mark, usually has two standard emotions. When well fed, rested and receiving attention, he is generally a happy kid. When hungry, tired, or sick of dad writing boring blog articles on the computer, he tends to display anger. There is not a lot in between.
So it was surprising to see my son sad for the first time.
My Mom was in town from Saturday to Wednesday morning. My kids love her even more than the usual kid-grandparent love. She just has a way with them. So we took Mom to the airport on Wednesday morning. As I unloaded her bags from the trunk she was saying her goodbyes to Annie, Gracie and Mark. I looked up and there were tears in my Mom’s eyes. I thought she was just sad to be leaving all of us.
I jumped in the car and Annie told me to look in the back seat. There, sitting silently, was my son with two huge alligator tears streaming down his cheeks. He was missing his grandma, already.
He has moped around the house the last two days.
I don’t like to see my two-year old son sad. But cherish I will that memory.
Rebecca and Mark