Thin Ice

Well, I suppose I have to just bend low and kiss my lovely son -- that 7-year-old wonder who I can no longer lift -- kiss him on the head and thank him for giving me something else to worry about today. As we walked out the front of my apartment this morning ... wait, we had gone out and it was so warm (later as warm as 69 degrees F or 20 degrees C) my son had begged me to ride his bike a bit before school and I had agreed even though we really didn't have the time. So he puts on his helmet and jumps on his bike and is so excited to be riding and it's a weird scene all around since there are still massive piles of newsprint -colored snow and here it is such a warm day, so he's riding his bike, loving it and finally it's getting late and I talk him into putting his bike away, taking his helmet off, which he does and we start out the door again ... and some how, he slips on the only ice left in Boston -- all three square inches of it and lands not on his butt, not on his back, but on his head almost, WITH HIS BIKE HELMET IN HIS HAND, and gives his head a mighty whack and so my day goes ass over tin cup. I am only a few feet behind him and run to him and scoop this big kid up, sitting in my black suit and black heels in a pile of melted snow, sand, mud and salt, letting him cry in my arms.

The doctor prescribes both mom and son staying home and watching for signs of concussion -- vomiting, irregular gait, sleepiness, odd sized pupils -- and I have to spend the day worrying about him instead of what everyone else is worrying about -- hurray! . And tonight I have to wake him every two hours to be sure he's alert, so if there's a war, tell me all about it one of these days because I've got better things to worry about. I'm busy staying up all night waking up my kid and hoping he's okay.

And I tell you, this kid who I love so much, baffles the mind in terms of parenting, defies the imagination and how he found ice to slip on today ... I'll never know. But all I can say is one big thanks.