Ben - Enjoying the Movies...who cares what was showing
I have written in here about Ben before. What I have not told you are some of the things that make him....quirky. Here is one example, but I loved every minute of it.
Tonight, Kathy and I decided to take Alex and Ben to see the movie "Cars" because we have tomorrow (Independence Day) off from work AND they were really good while Kathy was out of town on her bike ride.
As you know, taking a family of four to the movies is not cheap. Normally, we do the matinée thing to save a few bucks. But, I wanted to do something special. So I picked up the tickets this afternoon because I did not know if the showing would be sold out. In this case, it was on the only digital projection showing in the Knoxville area.
So we sit in the movie and I am between Kathy and Ben, with Alex on the other side of Kathy. About thirty minutes in to the movie, Ben grabs my arm and pulls it around him. Then he would lean up and "whisper" in my ear (his whispering can be heard in Nashville). He was telling me what was happening in the movie. Then he would quiet down again, all the while holding my arm around him.
Now keep in mind, Ben is eight years old. He turns nine on August 13th. Also keep in mind that he has my build. He is 4'10" and weighs about 110 pounds. Halfway through the movie, Ben decides that he wants to sit on my lap. He told me that he was tired and that I needed to keep him awake.
So for most of the next hour, Ben is sitting on my lap. Giving me hugs and telling me how much he is enjoying the movie. Kathy looks over at me and smiles. Then she had sort of a puzzled look. I must of looked like I was tired of having 110 pounds on my lap. And maybe I was. But I told her right then that I have to enjoy this. This will probably be the last time that Ben will want to sit on his daddy's lap in a movie.
For the exciting finish, I had him get back in his own seat. By this time he was bouncing too much. That bouncing turns 110 pounds in to something much more. Ben kept on hugging my arm and pulling it around him. And he kept telling me what the movie was about. And what was happening.
Some parents may find this behavior upsetting or even annoying. It IS different than a lot of other kids. It is very different than Alex. But that is Ben. And I loved every second of it. I really did.
And I will miss it when he is too big to sit on my lap. And I will miss my little boy as he gets bigger and bigger. Alex is already almost as tall as Kathy. Ben is not far behind. In a way, I wonder if it is that it makes me feel older seeing the two of them get to be so big. I wonder if I missed too much along the way. I always wonder if I am doing enough.
But no matter how much I have been complaining about it, the experiences like tonight at the movies tell me that spending the money on our first real vacation is worth it. It is a lot of money. But it will be a lot of memories. And you can't put a price tag on that. And you can't take those memories away.
And even when Alex and Ben tower over me in a few years, they will always be my little boys. And I will love them even more than I do now. And I don't know how that can be possible, but it will be.
