I (Jason) am traveling in Asia, far away from the family. Skype keeps us all sane, I think. Jackson sits on Sara’s lap and looks right at the computer. It’s almost like eye contact. But it’s not the same, of course. Anyway, something about being away makes me want to post this story.
Probably 6 weeks ago, Sara was making dinner and I was in the kitchen too (sampling, probably), and we thought all the kids were accounted for. Jackson loves to sit in his room and stare at his fake aquarium (the one where the fish pictures circle around the light), and we assumed that’s what he was doing when he stumbled into the room and fell, dropping two matching silver coasters. I helped him up without noticing the coasters. He was fine.
“What are those?” Sara asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Aren’t those Jeff and Debbie’s coasters,” she asked, referring to our friends next door. And of course, they were.
When I walked to the back of the house, I found Jack’s secret escape route: the storage room door was wide open. We hardly ever think of that door. He must have slipped out, run 50 feet across the yard and slipped into their front door. There is this spot in the corner of their living room that he loves to stand…
I shook my head. My son: a 4 year old klepto.
Jeff and Debbie were coming home right then, and Sara told them the news. They laughed, as we knew they would. They love Jack, and they understand his insatiable desire to match random objects and flap them in front of his eyes. Two shining coasters must have been irresistible to him.
Two minutes later, Debbie came to our door. “Look what I found next to our coffee table,” she announced. And in her hands were two pairs of Jackson’s underwear.
We laughed. Alot. Turns out Jack isn’t a klepto after all. He’s a barterer, and he knows a good trade when he sees one.
I love my son. And as much as I long to see him fully healed, he still brings me so much joy just the way he is. And gosh… I really want to see him right about now.
My son… the businessman.
Don’t children simply reflect what their parents teach them? I am sure Paul’s told me stories about you trying to trade your unmentionables for his GI Joe characters….