Mom and Me Time

Saturday little brother and I took a drive up to Plattsburgh. Big brother stayed behind with my husband. We had big shopping plans. All week little brother had been waiting to go shopping because his dad promised him Skylanders for his Wii U. Finally it was Saturday and he had his ride to Target. You see we had to go to Target because the same old Skylanders are at Walmart in Massena and little brother had managed to buy them all with his birthday money. We made it all the way to Plattsburgh when little brother fell asleep. I woke him up to tell him we were there. He opens his eyes and sat up in a panic and said, “Are we leaving! Did I miss the shopping part?” He’s so used to missing out. He’s my kid that I can bring to Walmart and load into a cart. I can also check out and drive all the way home without him waking up. When he naps it’s 2 hours of sleeping like a log. I don’t know how many times he woke up as I pulled back into our driveway and he thought we were just leaving. We went straight to the Skylanders section at Target so he could pick his three newest additions. He was so happy and talking so fast about his plans. I got to shop in the mall after we cashed out at Target and had preplanned making him walk all over with me so he’d be nice and tired out for his nap on the ride home. We browsed in Dicks Sporting Goods store and little brother went right to the hunting sections. He was so funny oohing and aahing over the hunting stuff. He pouted and begged for the most expensive crossbow the store carried. I had to explain him that it was for professional hunters and that he couldn’t even pull back the bow. He settled for a kid starter bow that had a pull weight of fifteen pounds. He still can’t pull it so he said he’s going to do push-ups until he can. I was lucky and proud of how well behaved he was while we finished our shopping. I had to buy both brothers some new clothes since winter has been lasting forever and they keep growing out of everything they own. As we loaded up our car and our stomachs growled I asked little brother, “What do you wanna eat for lunch?” He got a big grin on his face and said, “Steak, just a steak mom.” We found our way to the Texas Roadhouse for a late lunch. Little brother was in heaven, he was told by the hostess that he could make a mess. And he could throw peanut shells or crumbs on the floor. He spent the whole time we waited for our food smashing open peanut shells and pushing them onto the floor. Each time he noticed me watching him he’d smartly say, “What, they said I could. When does a grown up say make a mess!” I would just nod and he’d go back to his peanut crushing project. It’s the first place I’ve ever been that had steak as part of the kids menu. For the only time in probably ever little brother ate his entire lunch. He’s so picky, so that restaurant gets a thumbs up. Our last stop on the road home was the Tractor Supply Store. Little brother wanted to get his seeds for our garden. Once again he cracked me up.

As we stood there looking over all the choices of seeds he said, “I like to come early, you know like now when there is still snow. I don’t like it when it’s all gone.” He sounded like a sixty year old farmer, not a five year old hobby gardener. He lasted a good five minutes on the car ride home before slumping down in his seat and passing out. It’s been so long since I had the time give him all my attention. All in all we had a successful day of mom and me time.