The Ramp

Late this afternoon, I stumbled upon Hugo as he filled the powder room sink with water to wash his hands and to play with his submarines. He was being ever so quiet. My heart warms whenever I discover Hugo in the midst of make believe all on his own.

Today's quiet time was of the enforced variety. As I picked Hugo up from his preschool classroom, he took off running down the long hallways and out the door without me. He didn't leave the building, he loves to hold the door open for me. He'll pry the heavy door open with all the strength he can muster and then stand with his back against the glass while he waits for me. Adults who see me coming, with a girl slung under each arm, usually will pause and hold the door open for me. This frustrates our little Hugo. He doesn't like help with his jobs. Hugo was holding the door open for me as I ascended the staircase.

Our real trouble began once I was through the door. Hugo took off to run down the wheelchair ramp. All the boys, and a few of the girls, do this every day. Hugo has had problems with the ramp in the past, it seems to bring out the worst in him. I must add here, that some lovely lady friends missed Marlo and Sabine so much during Christmas break, that my arms were free at this particular moment. Hugo ran the ramp twice, I thought that was plenty due to the fact that others were holding our babies and it was time to head for the van. Hugo did not agree. Imagine an ugly scene, with your favorite four year old kicking, screaming, whining, crying, falling down, you name it, it happened. It was ugly.

I made it across the street with Hugo, and tossed him into the open van. As I turned to take the girls, one by one, from my waiting friends, I apologized to them. They made me laugh by saying that they had been there before and understood. One lady said she knew what I wanted to do with him once those van doors were shut... Really? I'm not so sure what I wanted to do with him. I kinda wanted to cry, to throttle him, to hug him, to talk to him, to have him look me in the eyeballs while I talked to him, but I also wished I could back up time and begin the day over.  To my knowledge, none, none, none of the other preschoolers have ever thrown a fit outside of school like Hugo has.

I'm not prepared for my child to grow up. He has been so easy up to this point, that sometimes, when he acts like this, I feel as though I don't know him. Who is this? May I trade him in, please?

I do know that he is tired. I worry about all day kindergarten next year. Hugo still takes naps every other day or so. The boy needs his sleep.

Back in the house, I felt pretty fried from the scene we created outside of school. We ate lunch and I put the girls down for their naps. After that, Hugo and I had a talk. He was banned from the TV and iPad for the day. He took it better than I'd expected. He played quietly in his room up until I happened upon him with his submarines in the sink. We had our little photo shoot on the stairs, he asked to watch Dino Dan a few times, I reminded him of the ramp, we ate our dinner, more playtime in his room, and before we knew it, it was bed time!

I'm happy to report, that the day ended well.