Just Checkin’

Ben was  invited to a birthday party for a girl in his class.  We are so used to having to deal with boys, it was a shock to the system to walk through the “Pink Aisles” in the toy department.  I don’t think Ben and Andrew were too thrilled, especially since we had to walk past the Lego, Star Wars, Transformers, and Hot Wheel aisles to get to the Polly Pocket/Barbie section.  That is another story in itself . . .

The party was at a local hotel with a swimming pool and water slide.  I drove Benjamin to the party where he was one of 3 boys to attend.  Scheduled for 3 hours, I hung out for a bit before sneaking out to let Ben have some fun on his own without the pressure of Dad constantly keeping an eye on him.  Ben also seemed pretty reserved with me being there.

After coming back to pick up Ben, the party was running late so when I got to the room, they were just starting with the cake.  Other parents started to show up but had to patiently wait as the kids were waiting for the Birthday Girl to open presents.  The kids started to gather around the Birthday Girl and Ben gave me a look . . . I told him to join his friends.

After a few presents were opened, Ben suddenly popped up in middle of the kids . . . with the commotion of kids gawking at the presents, he loudly said:

Ben:  Dad . . . . are you doing okay?

Dad:  Yeah Ben, I’m fine.

Ben:  Okay.  **Sitting back down**

As he sat down, another parent standing next to me looked back and asked . . . “Was he checking on you?”  I had to simply nod my head yes.  Here I was worried about him . . . turns out . . . I think he was more worried about me at the party