Father and Son

Happy New Year, everyone. Wishing all LG Rules! readers a great 2009!

LG's family rocked in the last week of 2008. The Seniol was back at base for nearly nine days; to say we had a great time is an understatement. Don't ask me what we did..we just chilled out at home for most part doing the regular stuff such as morning visits to the park, taking long evening walks, haunting the pizza outlets and cake shops without any planning totally surprising LG (so unlike me!), watching movies on DVD into the wee hours of morning. These nine days, in short, had all that we have ever wanted in a great vacation - minus the airfares and exotic locales. It was a perfect holiday. Ofcourse, on a couple of occasions we did manage to haul ourselves out of home to get some chores done. Before we knew, the week was over and it was time for The Seniol to leave already. I know how sad but we were better prepared this time. If only I could rewind time and re-live the past week, I would do that for anything in the world.

The two people who thoroughly enjoyed each other's company were undoubtedly Father and Son. If there is something called unadulterated affection, then I saw it in action between LG and The Seniol. When you see it everyday, you somehow miss it. I knew how fond LG is of his father but never understood and appreciated to the extent I did this time. Those meaningless banter, blowing bubbles on each other's tummy, territory sharing exercise every night on the bed only to be all over the bed within minutes, shared toy car rides, fixing the neck game, spraying water in the toilet, fighting for a bigger share of Black Forest cake oozing with liberal scoops of chocolate sauce..ah the list is endless. The biggest change The Seniol would have felt in LG was his ability to express himself in words. "Mama" gave away to "Papa" within minutes of The Seniol's arrival. I felt it took Li'l General more than four days to get over the excitement of seeing The Seniol after such a long time. He just couldn't get himself to believe his father was back.

We waited at the gates to receive The Seniol, the day he arrived. As he rolled down the windows to greet us, LG was shocked and confused unable to recognise The Seniol in darkness. As we reached home, LG just stood there looking at him for a while that got me thinking for a moment if the boy has forgotten him and all my attempts to show his pictures everyday to keep his memory fresh went in vain. I was proven wrong; it was the excitement. From there on, it was Papa all the way for the next week. I doubt if he let The Seniol get away from his eyesight for more than 10 minutes except the time when LG was asleep. The Seniol was not allowed to work, not allowed to eat in peace and sleep when LG was awake; the boy demanded his total attention.

I feared the worst the day The Seniol left. So prepared him with "Papa is going to school just like you" story a day before The Seniol was scheduled to leave. It has worked to an extent. LG hasn't cried openly or thrown tantrums. It makes me wonder if he is already acting too old for his age. But it has been worse. I can sense the boredom, the emptiness, the sadness in his eyes, looking up at every helicopter passing by to point to his papa, looking for his own father when every other child in the park calls out "papa". He is only two but at times his eyes speak volumes when he looks for answers from me and I have nothing to offer than to cheer him up. Another eight months to go for The Seniol to be back home with his son. I try hard but I can never fill the shoes of The Seniol. Come back soon!