Apparently I am the Coolest Parent Ever... at least to the younger-sibling set at Abby's gymnastics class. There's a balcony above the gym for people waiting on their kids, and it's full of younger siblings (I wouldn't dare bring Lizzy - she's too wild and she'd end up taking a header down the stairs). It's a big gym and I can't watch Abby herself the whole time; often she's nowhere near me. Because I don't use a phone for games or email or texting while waiting for my kid; I bring my Nintendo DSLite along. So I pulled out the DS, popped in the Final Fantasy IV DS game, turned it on, and adjusted the volume so as not to bother other people. I became quickly aware of a presence behind me and to the left, so I glanced up.
It was a little boy - looking to be about five years old, hovering near my left shoulder. When he saw me looking at him, he asked, "Can I play next?" I smiled at him and shook my head. "Why not?"
"Well, I don't know you."
"Oh. Hi! I'm Grayson and I'm almost five. Now you know me. Can I play next?"
I looked around for an adult attached to this kid. A man I took to be his father was watching us, laughing silently, but obviously ready to jump in if I needed help. So I said, "Nope. This is my toy - even my own kids don't get to play with this." The father laughed harder. Grayson leaned - hard - on my shoulder and stage-whispered into my ear.
"But I'm really nice."
By this point three or four other little boys came to investigate, and Grayson's father was almost doubled over with laughter. None of the other boys were quite as close as Grayson, but still, I'm not used to kids who are complete strangers to me hanging off me; usually it's only my own and those of my closest friends. Grayson's dad recovered himself and collected his child, half laughing and half apologizing, at which point the other boys all wandered off to their interrupted game.
Me? I got to the summit of Mt Hobs. And I got a blog topic out of the deal.
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