Friday, June 17, 2011

Nothing to see, here.

There is nothing profound to report today, not really. 

While out shopping, an old man stopped us in the parking lot, and asked me to return his shopping scooter to the store.  He had to show me how to operate it, and it made me laugh.  I missed my grandfather profoundly, and thought of him, as I drove that scooter toward the store at mach negative four thousand.  Holy shit, could it have gone any slower?  It was like the opposite of the Delorian, and I think I went backwards thru time. 

A little girl and her mother were buying an enormous bunch of balloons, and my daughter, of course, asked, "can I buy a balloon?" 
"No." 
Maybe it's not the nicest approach to parenthood, but telling them "no" without discussion is normally the easiest way to avoid tantrums and begging, since they know I do not negotiate after "no." 
She didn't whine, or protest, and as a consolation, I offered to color a beautiful balloon bouquet with her the moment we arrived home.  This seemed to satisfy. 
As we pulled away from our parking space, the mother of the little girl with the balloons waved me down. 
"My daughter would like to give your little girl a balloon."
I didn't know what to say.  I wanted to cry.  The little girl couldn't have been more than eight.  We thanked them both until we all might have been made uncomfortable by it.    
My daughter chose a pink balloon, (of course) and spent the rest of the day pulling it behind her as if it were the greatest present she'd ever received.  "One day I'd like to give someone a present like this." 

And then, a dinner that took all four members of our family to prepare, if you count the little one helping me dig potatoes from the garden. 
It was nice. 

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