Wednesdays are playgroup day. We leave the house (hopefully) before 10:00, and usually go to a local park with other moms from our church. The kids all run around and play and get all that excess energy out while us moms sit back and wonder where they get all this excess energy and why they don't share it with us. Or, as in my case, we wander around after our other child to prevent her from ingesting tanbark or various types of vermin found wandering on the ground.
Today we were at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto where, along with sand, slides, and fun ground grubbies to eat, there are some pretty pesky squirrels. Not nearly as bad as the squirrels at Cuesta Park, but still pesky none-the-less. It just so happens that one of these squirrels (aka rodents with fluffy tails) got into my diaper bag, got Brandon's PB&J sandwich baggy, and ran off with it, baggy and all. When I saw what was happening I tried to stop the squirrel, but only succeeded in stalling it momentarily. Luckily, the squirrel only got away with half the sandwich.
After a couple of hours of running and jumping, it was time to head off to the Costco around the corner, and then home. Once in the car, Brandon asked for his sandwich, which I gave him. What I really gave him was a quarter of a PB&J, since a "sandwich" for Brandon is only half a sandwich for normal people who eat. Not a lot of food when you think about it. When he asked for the other half, I had to explain about the whole squirrel incident. He listened intently, and seemed okay with the whole thing. He did tell me that it wasn't very nice for the squirrel to take his sandwich, but left it at that.
We got to Costco, did our return, got our 3 items, and paid for them in record time (10 minutes to be exact). I decided to get some lunch at the Costco fast food joint (McKirkland?), and proceeded to get in the small line. That's when it all sank in. All of a sudden. The sandwich....the squirrel...(the fact that it was naptime)....the running away....the nerve of that squirrel and the indignity of it all! Too much to handle...... Brandon just melted down and started sobbing. He was talking to me the whole time, but I couldn't understand a word of it through all the tears. He just sobbed and sobbed. The people in front of us in the line turned around to look at us. The people behind us in line just sort of stared at us while pretending look at the ground. Kids in strollers pointed. Then it got worse... Caitlin felt left out at this point and began a pitiful, tired wail as well. I finally managed to get Brandon to stop sobbing and tell me what was wrong (keep in mind I had absolutely no idea what he was upset about). He took a ragged breath and said "It wasn't very nice of the squirrel to take my sandwich. It wasn't his sandwich, it was my sandwich!!!" Then, through the tears and sobs he exclaimed loudly "I need a big hug!" So there I was, in the food line at Costco, hugging my sensitive little boy, comforting him over his lost sandwich. My poor baby. Life isn't fair. That's a hard lesson to learn when you're only 3! It isn't fair when you're a grown up, either, but we adults try not to lose it when we're out in public. At least not over squirrels.
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3 comments:
give him a hug from Grandma and tell him I'm sorry.
When did that happen? I didn't see the squirrel take it out of your bag.
Poor, Brandon. I'd be upset if the squirrel got my sandwich, too. I can't believe he can process it all like that and actually tell you quite clearly why he is upset. Sensitivity has its benefits sometimes.
Only a few of us saw the squirrel incident. Most of the group was playing at a structure on the opposite side of the park. Poor Brandon. He was so upset. I caught me so off guard that he was still processing the whole thing half an hour later, and that's when he got upset! I do take for granted that he's a good communicator. I guess I'm just use to it. He thinks about and remembers just about everything that goes on in his day. That's a future post. At least we always know the wires are connecting in his little brain!
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