the old way (Patreon)

we walked home from school The Long Way, which means not crossing the bridge we usually cross and walking on The Other Side of the stream to the far bridge, then crossing back home. 

the whole walk was about ninety minutes instead of 30, but i was so glad we did it. because one hour into the walk, ash sat himself by the stream, and patted the ground, saying “mama, sit down. we have to have a talk.” he had questions to ask, about why dada was gone, about why people were getting sick and not allowed on planes, and he wanted to talk about things that were making him sad.

it was a Good Talk. when we got up, he started randomly whining about all sorts of things and being a brat, so i tried a new technique and said “ash, i think we should just walk and not talk for a while.” and miraculously, it worked. we walked in silence and listened to the birds. 

about a half hour later, when we were almost home, he started whining/crying: 

“BUT MAMA. I DON’T WAAAAANT TO WALK THE NEW WAY. I WANT TO WALK THE OLD WAY.” 

i looked at him and said, “we’re too far along, ash. it’s too late for the old way.”

hey everybody, we’re too far along.

 it’s too late for the old way. 

x

afp