Wednesdays with Leo; Season 2; Part 8

Have you missed us?  HA!  I've missed us.  

Between parts 6&7, there were many "not-the-same-Ma's-House-days" for Leo and me.  We shared with Nora, Maggie and Aloise; sometimes with Lucia and Luca; sometimes Wednesdays were Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well.  And while this was all good, the fact remains that while Leo was blissfully occupied (with playmates other than Ma) the Series took on a decisively different tone (different being the operative word), and I could not keep up.  

Me and change; never an easy transition.

But Leo and I did have our conversations in the car.  And we had our routines as well.

Sometime in November, Leo began to count American Flags he saw flying in yards.  It was a random and out-of-the-blue event, but it took hold.  (We were getting bored checking in on the progress of our house, the house we had/have been watching since it's conception last spring; Leo said he needed something else to "watch").

As we counted flags, we also began to count "houses with Christmas decorations" - and - to top that - houses with flags AND Christmas decorations.

And we talked about Christmas.

And snow.

And how much we hoped it would snow for Christmas.

Leo recounted for me the time he "missed" Christmas".  I know.  What?

"It snowed a lot for Christmas. I was 2 or 3.  Probably 2 because I can't remember a lot of things when I was 2.  SOME things I can remember, get it?  But mostly when I was 3 I remember things. I remember it snowed a lot when I was 3. Daddy and I went outside after we ate and we stayed outside and played in the snow all day.  And that's when we missed Christmas.  We were playing sooo much that we forgot to come inside for Christmas.  If it snows this Christmas, we'll be more careful because we learned our lesson."

Well.  I tried to re-direct Leo's memory.  I really did.  But it was an uphill battle, to say the least.  

"I think I was 3.  I remember because I was 3.  I wasn't 2."

I left it there.  If there was a lesson to be learned, it was that I could NOT argue with Leo's 3 year old memory without causing a wee bit consternation and that, I decided, was not worth me being right.

Speaking of Christmas and snow, Leo and I continued to cross our fingers (for snow at Christmas) every time we spoke about this.  

One the way to school one day, Leo recalled a snowy day when "Mom gave me hot chocolate after I came inside."  He described - with relish - the experience.  His face actually glowed as he recounted how warm and "delicious" was the hot chocolate his Mom gave him.  The sky had looked the way the sky will look when it's going to snow; it's why we, again, were talking about snow at Christmas.

"If it snows today when I'm in school, Mom will have hot chocolate for me."

Pause.

"If Mom doesn't know it's snowing and I don't have hot chocolate, well, I don't think I'll be able to deal with that!" 

When Leo came to the house Christmas afternoon, I immediately said to him, "Leo. When I woke up this morning it was snowing!  And I thought about you!  First thing when I saw the snow, I thought about you!"  I can still see the grin on his face; we both knew that crossing our fingers had worked!

Wed. with Leo this past week was our first Wed. together for 2 months.

I was a little nervous, I admit.  Without Maggie and Co. to play with, how would I stand up to the challenge?   We had a late start; I stayed to visit with Annie for quite a while.  And the day here was rather uneventful until the very end, when Leo or I said something silly and that turned into me saying to him that it reminded me of the book, "Wacky Wednesday", to which Leo howled with laughter and it became "Wacky Wednesday" all the way to school.    

Leo and I were back :)

But we were actually on our way back before that;

As we made our way to "Ma's House" that Wednesday morning, we didn't talk about superheroes or coloring pages and whether Leo was bringing his batman and robin to play with Maggie.  Instead, I put on my sunglasses and waited for Leo to take the lead.

"I used to have sunglasses."

"Oh, I know.  I remember yours and Luca's sunglasses and how you wore them one time you both came to my house."

It wasn't summer.  Why was I wearing sunglasses?  I explained about the sun's rays bouncing off the snow and how bright that made things - that it was easier on the eyes to wear sunglasses.

"Yeah, I had sunglasses once.  Hmm.  I wonder where they are?  Probably lost or in the game room or somewhere in the house.  I found Batman so I think I can find my sunglasses."  

With the mystery of the lost sunglasses somewhat resolved, I asked Leo was he happy to be going back to school again?

"Yes!  I LOVE school.  And I already had 11 Family Days so it's OK to go back to school now."

11 Family Days!

I died!  And went to Heaven.  


PS.  Leo: I've lost my camera's battery charger. Oh No!  And it's a new one because Poppi got it for me after I lost the first one.
I can't find it anywhere.
Do you think you and Luca could say a prayer to St. Christopher for my charger? (I'll tell you about St. Christopher when I see you on Wednesday...and then you can tell Luca). 

And, if all else fails, how about crossing your fingers?