Well as all good plans do... this one crumbled immediately from the get-go. I couldn't get a hold of them before I was leaving for the Y, so I had to leave without them. As I was entering the Y, I finally spoke with them and decided to meet up with them afterwards, but that Junior was at a sleep-over and was a "maybe" for the day. So like clock-work, her car was pulling into the Y just as I was walking out the door {you'd think she knew I was going to work out for exactly 2 hours, or something... *wink wink*} So we all pile into Marci's mini-van and head to the train ride. We follow the ride with a "what were we thinking taking 4 kids to a sit-down restaurant" lunch at 54th Street {yummy... delish... it was worth the craziness of 4 kids}. All the while, I'm battling Roman, he is battling me and Nico {to my amazement} is trying to "keep the peace." As we're leaving the restaurant, I text Cristina to tell her we're on our way home. Half-way home, I get a frantic call from Cristina... her busy day just got crazier... she's headed to Children's Mercy with Junior {won't elaborate, but after 6+ hours in the ER... let's just say he's fine.} On top of the craziness, I'll mention that Jason and Cristina's husband Joe were in the middle of the final day of a 3-day golf tournament and are extremely hard to get a hold of. I'll also mention that Cristina just had week-long house guests that she took to the airport on her way to the ER. And I'll finally mention that her 11-month old daughter Vivi decided to learn to crawl... that morning. I'm also leaving out {out of respect for my friend's privacy} that all of this craziness and business is in preparation for something that happens Monday. So I'm telling you all of this because instead of just dropping him back off with his mother, I got to spend a few more hours with Nico.
So.... we head home and I immediately whisk Roman off to a nap while I'm instructing Nico to go to the basement and let the dogs out and play until I return. Nico does so and the poor boy sits down there for almost 30 minutes while I wait for Roman to fall asleep. He kept himself busy and was so helpful and good with the dogs. While Roman slept for 3 HOURS {OMG!} Nico and I played a few rounds of Jenga, built an intricate marble maze and raced marbles for almost an hour and then we watched The Great Outdoors together. We had an absolute blast and nothing against my son... but it was so nice playing with someone who cooperates, takes turns, has a sense of humor, doesn't need an "entertainment commitee", can play independently if needed, etc...
So backtracking a bit, yesterday at lunch while I was wrangling with Roman to stay in his seat, to stop crawling under the benches, to stop messing with the window blinds and to stop trying to open the emergency exit door, Nico watched Roman's behavior in horror. The look on his face showed he was really annoyed by Roman's obnoxiousness. I just kind of mused to myself about the irony this. As I was dredging up the memories of past restaurant meals with Nico and all of the threats to get him back into his seat, all of the meals he spent more time on the floor instead of his chair, etc... Nico looked at Marci and said to her "I used to be a lot like Roman". It was so funny and so perfect: We were having the exact same thought!
A few years ago... Nico was Roman: a miniscule attention span, spurts of naughtiness intermingled with spurts of heartfelt & tender love, everyone thinks his antics are "cute" except his own mother, everything was an argument {that's a fork - no its not, its a spoon - no its a fork - no its a spoon - yada yada yada... the second you argue with a 3-year old you've already lost.} I always used to thank God that he placed me next door to my best friend. The first time we "hung out" was on the eve of my 30th birthday...who would have thought that all these years the person who I identified most with and had the most in common with was living in Italy? When I look back on my thirties, Cristina will be in most of my memories. Now I know that the jig is up... We weren't placed next door to each other to be "best friends"... that was just a perk. No - we live next door to each other because for 4 years it was my quest to observe, scrutinize and uncover the mysteries of the active and ornery preschool boy via Nico as part of my training for Roman. Don't kid yourself, though. Just because I had the training, doesn't mean I studied or retained the information. Nor does it make me an expert. It just means I have an ally and a confidante in Cristina who can assure me that yes indeed the current phase does suck, but like Nico, Roman too will outgrow it.
Nico has grown up so much and is becoming such a responsible and considerate young man... he's come so far in such a short amount of time. He his now a doting big brother, he takes his schoolwork seriously, he has a genuine zest for life and he no longer takes joy in being destructive. If Roman is grooming himself to be the "next Nico"... I couldn't be happier.
Although, I have to wonder: Who "trained" Nico and what is HE like now? And who is next in the sequence?
Nico, Trent & Roman on the Line Creek Railroad
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