The figurative carrot, literally

The other night Theo went to bed as usual, but unusually after Jon left his room he started crying out. Jon had to home teach, so I went in to give him what he always asks for, water. But he was not asking for water.

"Carra... I want a carra!"

I tried to figure it out--"Carra? What does that mean?" I asked him the only word I could think of that made sense. "Carrot?"

"Yeah."

"You want a carrot?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because... I want a carrot."

"We can't eat a carrot right now. We need to go to sleep," I said, very confused. I didn't believe him. He's never asked for a carrot in his life. Instead I tried to give him a toy wooden carrot on the floor. Maybe he wanted to sleep with it? But it seemed to make matters worse. I left him, thinking that like a midnight delirium, he would forget all about it after I walked away. But he didn't, wailing for a carrot for ten minutes. I went back in, and the tears were real, the carrot still desired beyond all else in that moment. I figured that giving in to a toddler's very unusual request for a nightcap vegetable wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

So I got him one. And in the dark I heard a silent, content crunching, followed by sleep.

Preschoolin

Theo had his first day of preschool today. It was a success, because I am sitting here while he is asleep in his room, something that has not happened in a very long time. I always thought it was a little crazy to have three-year-olds start preschool (only because that wasn't the norm when I grew up, but now I think it's great), and he's going to one held by a mom in our church with a small group of boys his age. Theo loves any social gathering so I could throw him into anything and I think he would be just fine. His teacher is very enthusiastic and loves what she does, which I find amazing because running a preschool is not at all something I would be good at. He came home and told me how the sun is made of gas and has black spots on it. He also just straight up wouldn't leave preschool, so that's something we have to work on. I'm really happy for him, and surprisingly not sad. Margot and I ate a chocolate croissant and leisurely grocery shopped after we dropped him off, so we had a great morning. I love being able to focus completely on her for a little bit, it makes me realize just how seldom it happens.

We also started him in a gymnastics class. The first few minutes he was shy and hesitant, which was understandable because he was in this huge overwhelming place with all this crazy equipment. We also got there a bit late and I was unbelievably frazzled, especially when we were trying to watch him on the floor and there was nowhere to stand and an instructor asked if we would like to move to the observation deck on the second floor? There's nothing that makes me (literally) sweat more than showing up to a place that has a distinct routine and method and not knowing any of it. Which is probably why Theo and I needed about ten minutes before we were comfortable. Soon I was up in the observation deck feeling like a dance mom and Theo was jumping into the foam pit and hanging on poles with enthusiasm. Our little boy is a full on kid.

No weeds were harmed in the making of this weekend.

I used to think Labor Day was a pointless holiday, a day off from school just days after you started anyway, ruining the fun of new schedules and seeing new people. But then, that was probably because my family took the meaning of "labor day" pretty literally. This year Labor Day was more like a reduction of all of the feelings and activities of summer put into one day (minus swimming, pools were all closed already) so we could be ready to jump into our sweaters far too early. We spent it in Boise with my family and the best part was watching the cousins play outside until after dark. It helped bring back memories of when being outside and running around with no purpose other than the activity itself was the greatest thing in the world. However, the summertime adult activity of sitting around outside and doing nothing for the sake of doing nothing is also the greatest thing in the world. And no yard work was involved! Double win.


*Also, when I have a weekend like this, I usually only take two or three terrible phone photos. Just shows I was relaxed.