It’s happen to us before! My husband and I will be going about our everyday lives, filled with restful pauses and quiet evenings, then BAM! Captain America turns our world upside down! Mind you, we anticipate these invasions with great joy, planning ahead the things we will do. Sometimes Cap morphs into the Hulk, filling our house with roars and grunts, Hulk smashing the furniture and floors. Last summer, he was the Flash, running through the house at top speed, slicing his hands in the air. This Avenger Invasion is fueled by his father’s love for the Marvel characters. His grandfather joined in, downloading an app for his cell phone, which allows Jarvis, from the Iron Man movies, to inform him when he gets a call. My husband outfits our Avenger with grandpa and grandson matching shirts that they wear when hitting the bike trails. They go on long rides (last summer 20 miles in one trek!), stopping at restaurants along the trail for a drink and rest. He informed me last fall that he was tired of getting only Avenger toys for Christmas and would like Santa (yes, he still believes) to include a few Star Wars toys. So, we bought him a BB-8 bike helmet, along with Star Wars knee and elbow pads. The pads he no longer wants to wear. Our Avenger sleeps in a Spider-man tent bed when he visits. I set-up a small table by his bed for a flashlight and Minion thermos of water because he gets thirsty at night. For all his tough boy habits, he has a bunny nightlight, because he grew-up with it in his Texas room and still finds it comforting. When he wakes-up in the morning, he crawls in bed to cuddle. I hold him tight, putting up with his “morning breath” because I know these tender, little boy moments are numbered. He’s growing-up so fast. He loves the horses and is fearless around them from the time he could focus his eyes. As always, he’s been begging me to ride. We haven’t yet but will before the weekend. What we have done, is spend Easter Sunday at Six Flags, eating nachos and cotton candy, riding our favorite roller coaster over and over, in between the Antique Cars. He can drive the Antique Cars and likes for me to sit in the backseat. I impressed him this year by going on the Superman ride. Monday, we colored Easter eggs. He played while I did some baking. Yesterday we worked in the garden. He loves to dig in the soil. Today we’ll visit the horses, brush them and turn them out. I understand that my future holds a rousing game of Candy Land. He claims that he’ll win, but I replied “I don’t think so!” Tonight, we plan to swim at the YMCA while his grandpa plays racquetball. We’ll take home dinner. His spring break from school is ending too soon. Saturday we’ll send him home on a plane. He much prefers riding a plane then enduring the ten-hour car ride it takes to get to his house in Mississippi. Once our Avenger leaves, our house will settle. My heart will ache because my love for him is so strong. I’ll busy myself, wiping away the dust, washing floors and fingerprints, scrubbing his bathroom clean and packing-up his toys. But there is a shining light! He’s returning this summer and it all begins again.
