A Friday Night Date

with this handsome fellow.

We left the house around 8. He's at the stage where if he takes a nap, he's not tired until 9:30 or so. I was about to get him into the minivan, but he said he wanted to take Dad's car. I was happy to oblige. Dad's car is, after all, the date car.

On the way to McDonald's, this was our conversation:

Me: What was your favorite part of the day?
Stephen: When I went to bed.
(I was puzzled.)
Me: You mean when you took a nap?
Stephen: Yeah.
Me: You LIKE taking naps?
Stephen: Yeah.
Me: I like taking naps too!
Stephen: Yeah, me too.

When we got out of the car, Stephen said, "Mama, look!" as he pointed to the dark sky. "Stars!" I realized then that my kids don't get out to see the moon and stars very much. I thought that was sad. I looked at the stars with him and instantly found three bright stars in a row, Orion's belt. I told him about it and he said he could see it too.

We got a happy meal and ice cream. We played with his hockey toy on the table and had a grand time. I asked him again what his favorite part of the day was, and he said, "eating ice cream."

As we were leaving, Stephen said, "this was fun!" Outside, he again told me to look at the sky. "Look, the moon! It's silver!" He was right. It was spotted with gray clouds, but it shined brightly behind them. On the way home, he shouted out every time he saw the moon peek out from behind the trees, and then he wondered why the moon was following us all the way home. I used to wonder that when I was a little girl.

We played with his toy for a little while inside the house, and our date ended when I put him to bed and sang "Edelweiss" to him. For the past few nights, "Edelweiss" is the only song he'll let me sing to him because it's a "boy song." I kissed him goodnight and he happily went to sleep.

I love my Stephen. What a sweet boy he is.