The Only Child Weekend

While the boys were lost in the Canadian wilderness, Griffin lived the life of an only child. We set up our first adventure - “camping” in Mommy’s room. (The whole camping idea may have been a tactical error on my part because “camping” involved Griffin falling out of bed multiple times a night, Griffin screaming in panic when one of the five bears huddled into bed with us were lost, and a nice, enthusiastic wake up call at the ripe hour of 5:30 am. Camping, obviously, even when done in the comfort of my bedroom, does not involve much sleep.)

Friday night was date night. I told Griffin we would visit Build A Bear and go out to dinner, just the two of us. When we arrived at Build A Bear, we were surprised (and so, very excited) to find out it was Star Wars Night, featuring the launch of the brand new line of Star Wars bears. (I kid you not. I could not have planned this better if I tried.) So before we plucked down a small fortune for some stuffing and fur, Griffin visited with a few store employees dressed as Jedis and a real life, honest to goodness Chewbacca. He even got to pick out the Star Wars theme to play whenever you squeezed his bear’s hand.

Griffin named his bear Skywalker and looked unbearably cute walking through the mall rubbing his cheek up against the bears’ soft fur.

We dined on hamburgers and shared a strawberry milk shake. I tried not to shed a tear when Griffin told me how much he loved me, once, twice and three or more times during dinner. I think the waitress wanted to take him home with her.

On Saturday, my brother Travis and sister in law Lynda had offered to take Griffin to give me some quality time at the spa. (There is nothing like the joy of some quality time at the spa. A facial. A massage. Just a little slice of heaven.) Griffin reveled in the chance to have Uncle Travis and Aunt Lynda all to himself. They are hot commodities in our house, and to have their undivided attention is quite a prize. They spent the day at the zoo, playing with their cat and playing games at home. I don’t think Griffin wanted the day to end.

I know he missed his dad and his brothers. I know I did too. But I think there was a part of Griffin who would whole heartedly take another weekend of the only child lifestyle. I know I would take it again too. Just minus the camping part.