Last night we chatted as he was getting ready for bed. "What was your favorite part of going to the game yesterday?" I asked him.
We'd gone to watch a San Diego Padres baseball game on Sunday. It was a rare spontaneous outing spurred on by a promotion put on by his school district. We paid $20 for $50 seats. He'd been asking to go watch a Padres game ever since he went on a field trip to Petco Park with his summer program. He doesn't particularly like baseball, but I wanted to encourage his enthusiasm, so we went to the game.
He thought for a moment. "Getting the big hand," he said.
As I mentioned, he doesn't really like baseball. It was a good game with lots of scoring, but he hardly paid attention. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure the only reason he wanted to go was to get the big foam finger and point it all around. On his insistence, we bought it just as soon as we got there. He loved it but didn't use it quite as much as I had expected. "So we could have gone to the game, bought the foam hand, then came right back home and that would have been just as good," I said in good humor.
"Yeah, pretty much," he answered cheekily.
"You're silly. I know what I'm going to draw tomorrow, though."
"What?" he asked.
"Guess!" I said, pointing to the hand.
A smile creeped up onto his face. "Yeah!" he shouted.
In the morning, I got to work on the hand straight away without checking in with him. I didn't want him to change his mind. I made quick work of the outline, then asked him, "Should I put 'Go Padres'?"
"Definitely don't put 'Go Victor'."
But that would make a lot of sense, I thought. "No?" I asked.
"No. Put a croissant."
"Huh?"
"Put, 'Go Croissant'."
"Um, no." I had no idea what he was talking about. I ignored him for a while and kept working. When I was ready, I asked again, "What should we put?"
"'Go root beer!'"
"No! I don't want to put something that makes no sense." He looked at me like I was the weird one. "I'm just going to put 'Go SD' or 'Go Victor', okay?"
"Um, yeah, okay." He paused, then interjected, "Actually, put 'Go Kids'."
"Oh, okay, 'Go Kids'," I said. "Sure, I can do that. And then I'll put 'VT'." I showed him the original.
"Yeah. 'VT' here and 'Go Kids' here, okay?" he said, pointing out the correct locations for each.
"Definitely don't put 'Go Victor'."
But that would make a lot of sense, I thought. "No?" I asked.
"No. Put a croissant."
"Huh?"
"Put, 'Go Croissant'."
"Um, no." I had no idea what he was talking about. I ignored him for a while and kept working. When I was ready, I asked again, "What should we put?"
"'Go root beer!'"
"No! I don't want to put something that makes no sense." He looked at me like I was the weird one. "I'm just going to put 'Go SD' or 'Go Victor', okay?"
"Um, yeah, okay." He paused, then interjected, "Actually, put 'Go Kids'."
"Oh, okay, 'Go Kids'," I said. "Sure, I can do that. And then I'll put 'VT'." I showed him the original.
"Yeah. 'VT' here and 'Go Kids' here, okay?" he said, pointing out the correct locations for each.
When I was finished, I realized that I should have drawn it the other way around so that he could have put his hand in the sack to wave it about. Ooops! I'd thought of that last night but completely forgot this morning. Ugh. I was mad at myself. I considered starting all over, but didn't really have enough to time for that. "What do you think of it?" I asked him.
"It's good," he said without much enthusiasm. Perhaps if I'd made the bag functional as a pointer, as it should have been, he'd have had a more enthusiastic reaction.
"It's good," he said without much enthusiasm. Perhaps if I'd made the bag functional as a pointer, as it should have been, he'd have had a more enthusiastic reaction.
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