Max has decided he would like to run away from home. That became clear as of 6:30 this morning, when he popped out of our bed and took off for his room. Dave got up, and I heard some commotion. Groggily, I headed over to see what was going on.
Max has had a gigantic green suitcase sitting in his room since last week, when Dave came home from a business trip and Max insisted on keeping it there. After that, he began talking about sleeping over at his friend C's house (the kid has an actual name, just respecting his privacy). Mind you, he's never even had a playdate with C, who's in his school. Despite repeated requests (even pleas!) from me, C's mom is never able to commit to a date, and I am not sure why. This hasn't stopped Max and his fantasies.
"Eeee! Ahh! Ayleh's! Ouse!" he tells me ("Sleep! At! C's! House!"). Then he counts to ten, because he wants to sleep there for ten nights. He says this phrase approximately every fifteen minutes, just in case I haven't gotten the message but mostly because I think he just loves the thought of it. Max only wants to go to C's house; bringing him here, not so much.
Anyway, I walked into Max's room. Max had emptied his drawers of clothes, and piled them on top of the suitcase, along with his favorite book and a picture of a blue car he had made for C during his last occupational therapy session (because C's favorite color is blue).
"Eeee! Ahh! Ayleh's! Ouse!" he said, gleefully.
He and Dave had worked out a full fantasy day. Dave recounted it to me as Max nodded in agreement: First, Max and C would go bowling. Then they would proceed to Chuck E Cheese's, where Max would down spaghetti with sauce, followed by chocolate ice-cream (three!), and C would have chicken nuggets and ketchup. Then he'd sleep at C's house, for ten nights.
So, Max wants to run away. I am a little bummed that I haven't succeeded in booking a playdate with C, let alone a sleepover, but I will press on. Meanwhile, the pile of clothes shall remain on the suitcase. Drawers are overrated, anyway.
Isn't it awesome when our kids come up with ( and let us know!) their secret plans! Esme has gotten herself ready for ballet class (never mind the fact she doesn't attend one) and horseback riding (doesn't start until September!) lately. And God help you if you don't at least entertain the idea of going!
ReplyDeleteMax, I hope you get to have that sleepover soon! 10 nights on vacation sounds like a dream to me!
The mom of Max's friend might be a bit embarrassed--maybe her house is a mess/in poor repair, or she's just got too much on her plate to deal with more than one kid? I know that's why I used to put off those kinds of suggestions when I was living in that s-hole rental a few years ago...the front porch was rotted, the plumbing didn't work too good, and I didn't have a suitable place for any more than my two kids to play. I also didn't have the cash to fix the place, and I kept the heat kinda low because I was pinching pennies. I probably seemed like an inhospitable person, but it was sheer mortification. I just wasn't set up to entertain anyone!!
ReplyDeleteDo you have a mid-priced hotel nearby? Maybe you could find one with a good discount on the weekend or something, and the two families could stay overnight and you could let them have a playdate in a neutral setting? If you can find one with a pool, and maybe a Denny's attached, why, better still!
Hope you can sort this out so Max can have his fun!
Perhaps she's shy about the publicity, and speculating here will only make it worse! :)
ReplyDeleteFelicia, before a sleepover could ever happen, I think we first need a playdate, and I honestly have no idea why it's never happened. If I ever wanted to write about what went down on a Max playdate, I'd first see if that was cool with the parents, and I'd never show photos or use names. I may blog openly about our family, but I respect the privacy of others.
ReplyDeleteJane, I hope Esme loves horseback riding! Max did it for a couple of years and enjoyed it.
That does sound like a pretty nice outing, actually.
ReplyDeleteEl--I'm wondering if even the playdate pushback might be because of issues at the house, is all I am saying. I never had kids over to our (crappy rental) place when I was in a tough spot, it was just too chaotic and not suitable. I also had to keep the heat low and we wore sweaters to save money--I also didn't have a lot of "treats" to serve and our food was pretty basic there for awhile. I would have been a bit humiliated to have someone over, is all I am saying, and maybe that's the deal in this case. Or maybe there's some personal stuff going on that makes the mother unable to socialize --job loss or death in the family maybe (that's what I was dealing with). Or divorce or something else?
ReplyDeleteI think you're confusing me with "Anonymous" as far as the anonymity of the person-that isn't my comment!
Now that we have done our hopefully final move, the kids can/do have friends over--we have a good sized yard, if I'm not here my mom is, they have a tree house and a barn and all kinds of places to explore and have fun, but for a bit there it just was a bad scene, we couldn't "entertain" so we were not very gracious. I was one of those mothers who turned down playdates because I just couldn't do it--it's not that I didn't want to, it was just too hard.