Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the day with my 3 1/2 year old son Bodhi. His mom requested a day to focus on her book and not be distracted by the boys building and destroying different structures in the rooms outside her office. Bo and I left the house by 8am and went to our favorite breakfast joint - the Atomic Cafe. From there we ran some errands, stopped by one of my projects, and finally headed out of town to begin our adventure.
The first stop was the Wenham Train Museum. We've been there before but it never gets old...many cool trains to check out, tons of other kids and of course the gift shop. Bo loves to pick out a car each time to add to his Leno-esque collection. He even let me pick one out too. Quite generous especially given I was the one buying. Nice work Bo!
From there it was off to Newburyport for some lunch at one of my favorite Mexican joints. Of course Bodhi fell asleep in the truck on the way up and he clung to me like a baby Koala bear as I extracted him for his car seat and walked up the block to the restaurant. He was awake enough to help me polish off a bowl of chips and salsa and then lunch. Mark the date of his first taste of flan. I think he liked it. The kid has a distinctly adult pallet. His love of all types of food is pretty impressive actually. It usually elicits a comment or two from the waitstaff or a fellow diner. After lunch he lay down on the bench seat and started chatting it up with three ladies seated next to us. Sometimes I can't get a read on this guy...he can go mute and clam up tight or just start blabbing away like you're his best friend. No real rhyme or reason to it.
So after lunch we walked back to the truck and on the way stopped into a Life is Good store. We browsed about for a bit and then Bodhi found a super ball with the Life logo and a picture of the little mascot dude - Jake on it. I paid for it and we left. Once back in the truck ready to head off to the Triumph dealer in Hampton, NH I asked Bo if he knew who the guy on the ball was. He said "no papa, who"? His name is Jake and he says life is good. Without missing a beat Bodhi asked " what does he say when life is not good"?
Ahhhhh. To be three years old again and have such a distinct lack of irony. I thought for a second trying to process what he just asked me. Yeah what about when life ain't so grand? What then? I found my feet and replied. Well Bo I guess Jake says just do your best, even when life is not good. Somehow that answer felt too canned, too cliched. Here was one of those moments - an opportunity to share some wisdom with my youngest son. When life sucks just do your best...
That moment came and went like they do. We drove off to the motorcycle dealer and had fun pretend riding the Vespa's in the back room. Chatted a bit with Donnie the owner and bought Bo his first motorcycle. Daytona 675. Scaled down of course...
But Bodhi's questioned loitered about in my brain and I found myself wanting to come up with a better reply. What do we do when things
aren't going good? Do we stress? Do we complain? Do we stop striving to be happier?
I laughed to myself at how simple it really is. Of course that's it. We do our best. We weather the storm. We keep laughing through the tears. We keep forgiving the "mistakes". We keep attempting to love it all. All of it.
You see, Life is good. Just ask Jake and Bodhi.
The first stop was the Wenham Train Museum. We've been there before but it never gets old...many cool trains to check out, tons of other kids and of course the gift shop. Bo loves to pick out a car each time to add to his Leno-esque collection. He even let me pick one out too. Quite generous especially given I was the one buying. Nice work Bo!
From there it was off to Newburyport for some lunch at one of my favorite Mexican joints. Of course Bodhi fell asleep in the truck on the way up and he clung to me like a baby Koala bear as I extracted him for his car seat and walked up the block to the restaurant. He was awake enough to help me polish off a bowl of chips and salsa and then lunch. Mark the date of his first taste of flan. I think he liked it. The kid has a distinctly adult pallet. His love of all types of food is pretty impressive actually. It usually elicits a comment or two from the waitstaff or a fellow diner. After lunch he lay down on the bench seat and started chatting it up with three ladies seated next to us. Sometimes I can't get a read on this guy...he can go mute and clam up tight or just start blabbing away like you're his best friend. No real rhyme or reason to it.
So after lunch we walked back to the truck and on the way stopped into a Life is Good store. We browsed about for a bit and then Bodhi found a super ball with the Life logo and a picture of the little mascot dude - Jake on it. I paid for it and we left. Once back in the truck ready to head off to the Triumph dealer in Hampton, NH I asked Bo if he knew who the guy on the ball was. He said "no papa, who"? His name is Jake and he says life is good. Without missing a beat Bodhi asked " what does he say when life is not good"?
Ahhhhh. To be three years old again and have such a distinct lack of irony. I thought for a second trying to process what he just asked me. Yeah what about when life ain't so grand? What then? I found my feet and replied. Well Bo I guess Jake says just do your best, even when life is not good. Somehow that answer felt too canned, too cliched. Here was one of those moments - an opportunity to share some wisdom with my youngest son. When life sucks just do your best...
That moment came and went like they do. We drove off to the motorcycle dealer and had fun pretend riding the Vespa's in the back room. Chatted a bit with Donnie the owner and bought Bo his first motorcycle. Daytona 675. Scaled down of course...
But Bodhi's questioned loitered about in my brain and I found myself wanting to come up with a better reply. What do we do when things
aren't going good? Do we stress? Do we complain? Do we stop striving to be happier?
I laughed to myself at how simple it really is. Of course that's it. We do our best. We weather the storm. We keep laughing through the tears. We keep forgiving the "mistakes". We keep attempting to love it all. All of it.
You see, Life is good. Just ask Jake and Bodhi.
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Welcome back to the blog world, Jamie!
Cindy Schieffer