I had Kristen all to myself two weekends back. Blaine went to New Orleans with Kara and Richard but she needed to stay in town for dance. I’m sure that a weekend with dad is not as exciting as a weekend in New Orleans but that is life.
We started the weekend with dinner at La Suprema (her choice – I wanted a steak) and then a movie at the theater with popcorn. I’m not sure how she can eat a full meal and then consume an entire large popcorn. It just doesn’t seem possible.
I enjoy my daughter’s company. She is such a pleasure to be around. She talked through most of dinner. Topics included introverts and extroverts, her classes at school, her friends (Lauren has missed a lot of school – we have been praying for her), and many others. I am “afraid” sometimes that I will lose this with her at some point. Lose her just sitting and talking to me. It is just special time. I get this time listening to her regularly and I never weary of it. Silly little girl things that I never heard before.
Neither one of us looked at our phones until we needed to know what time it was so we could leave in time for the movie. I had to make it a habit to not look at the phone years ago so that I could make sure I maintained focus. And I found that both kids see, respect, and mimic that behavior. But I digress.
The movie was “The Maze Runner”. It wasn’t a bad movie but I did not get emotionally attached to the characters. I couldn’t get angry with the bad kid, love the good kid, or cheer for the hero. It was odd. We did however get to see the preview for the next Hunger Game movie. I already knew the crazy excited look I would see on her face when I peaked over at her. She did not disappoint. I made sure she knew that this was “my” movie. We laughed at that. Sometimes Kara gets certain movies and I get certain movies. I got lucky with the Hunger Games. We watched the first one together at home and then the next one in the theater. So I get the next two in the theater as well. We decided that mom gets to go see the new Annie movie with her. It is just a silly game.
The next day she shared me for a bit and then we went home and made nachos. OK – I made them and she ate them. We watched another movie together – you know why not? We have nothing better to do.
Yes, not really exciting I know but just one of those weekends you get to store up in memory. A memory that you can enjoy in the future.