When I bigger

We were over at our daughters for dinner today. We arrived a little early which is always something of a pain in the ass. It is a pain for the hosts and for the early guests. The hosts have nothing planned for early arrivals and the early arrivals have nothing to do while the hosts get everything ready.

I don’t mind, because I am inherently lazy and I had brought my Kobo with me to while away the time. I can’t remember why we got there early, oh yeah, Louise was going to help Arwen with some dish or something like that. When we walked in Arwen was busy in the kitchen, Chris was in the basement working on the computer, Tornado was sleeping and Hurricane was “helping” his dad.

Chris said to his son, “Thanks, but this is pretty dangerous stuff in here. You might get a shock if you aren’t careful and if you break something with the screw driver then the computer won’t work.” He rubbed his head and said “Sorry buddy, but you can help me when you are older.”

Hurricane looked his dad in the eye and said “When I bigger!”

“That’s right, why don’t you go and see if your mom needs some help?” Chris said.

Hurricane put down his plastic screwdriver and ran up the stairs to the kitchen. His mom was bustling between the counter and the stove and there was steam coming from several places at once. Hurricane went to reach for a pot and his mom said “Whoa! Be careful! That is really hot! You can really get hurt in the kitchen.”

“Can I help mommy?”

“No, I don’t think so. Grandma and I have gotten almost everything done for now. Maybe you can help with the salad when it is time. When you are older you can help me with supper.” Arwen told him.

“When I bigger.” he said looking up to his mom.

“That’s right. Why don’t you go and play with Poppa?” His mom told him.

He came over to me and we played with blocks and forts and did something with some weird looking sponge character. My son and his wife came over and Chris came up the stairs with a handful of beers, and asked Brendan if he could help him in the garage while he handed them out. I got up and asked if I could help in any way. Chris gave me a smile and said” No, it is pretty heavy and I think Brendan and I can handle it between us. Why don’t you play with the boys?”

I smiled and said “Okay”, as they walked out the door with dog running between their legs. The smile left my face when the door closed. I went to the kitchen and asked if there was anything that I could do. “I am pretty good with dishes!” I said. Arwen smiled at me and said that the three ladies had it pretty much under control.

I went over to the couch and sat down. I looked at my old wrinkled hands, not too wrinkled you understand, and wondered if getting old is something that you do or something that you are told you are. I was well on my way to melancholy when I felt a little hand on my knee. I looked up and saw these beautiful young eyes looking intently into mine. He patted my knee and said, “When you bigger.”

All thought of melancholy disappeared and I picked him up and said that I thought there was something the two of us were big enough to do. We went outside and I bought two of the biggest Popsicle rocket ships that the Dickee Dee truck had. We sat on the stairs talking, telling stories, getting sticky, laughing and we ruined our supper.