Sons and Magic....

I spent the day today with my son at the "happiest place on Earth". No, not Amoeba Records, that would be dad's happiest place. No, the place I'm talking about is the Magic Kingdom, AKA, Disneyland. It was a fun day. The weather was SoCal autumn perfect, where it feels like the sun wants nothing more than to add a comfortable glow to your day. The crowd was, well, manageable. When we got there it wasn't too crowded and we were able to hop on a few rides with a minimum wait time. But as the day turned into evening the park began to be a little bit more crowded.

Here's a quote I read somewhere. Please forgive its maudlin tone, but I thought about it today at Disneyland with my son: "Son, you outgrew my lap, but never my heart" Anonymous.
Yes, another quote from the prolific "Anonymous". But I never felt this before as much as I did today. The first time my wife and I took my son (and daughter) to Disneyland, my boy experienced it firsthand from the comfort of a stroller being pushed by either myself or my wife, or, when she could persuade us, my daughter, who seemed to take great pleasure in letting go of the handles at the top of a hill and yelling "whee!" as my wife and I did a mad sprint for the runaway carriage. The look of terror in his face when any character would approach us was enough to make you re-evaluate the wisdom of dressing up like mice. The only rides we could get him on were the gentlest of rides. Basically, the ones I hated. Ever ride the Winnie the Pooh ride at Disneyland 3 times in a row? It makes you long for the simple pleasure of a tooth extraction. My son could not get enough of that ride. And when he wasn't in the stroller, where did he want to be? You got it, in dad's arm's, on dad's shoulders, on dad's feet...pretty much anywhere you could rest your tush on dad. He would religiously wear his mouse ears. And not just any mouse ears, oh no. The basic black ears with the name stitched on the back in simple cursive just wouldn't do. He wore the 50th anniversary "golden" ears, limited edition. He went through two pairs of these ears, both with elastic bands to make sure they stayed firmly attached to your head all day, no matter what thrill any attraction dished out, lest anyone question your dedication to the mouse. Aah. Those days are gone. Today, don't even think of mentioning the fact that he used to wear mouse ears. Those are for "babies". And if I tell him that he used to wear them proudly, and skip through Tommorowland while wearing them, he'll reply with a look (which seems very familiar), and say "Dad!!! I'm not a baby anymore. I'm ten!" Which means that any signs of affection just won't do. Of course, it's fine for Mom to give them, but not Dad. Don't get me wrong. I can still hug and kiss him, only there can't be anyone else around to question why dad just gave you a hug. I know he'll grow out of it. He's just trying to find his way as a ten year old boy in a world where so much happens so fast. But then, today we were at Disneyland, and there were so many fathers with their children there today, pushing strollers, wiping tears, giving hugs, buying ears.....I'm not complaining. A ten year old at Disneyland is in some ways alot more fun then a one year old. We went on everything we both wanted to go on, and I haven't been to Pooh's House in a long time. Today it was all Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, Big Thunder. And I learned my boy is growing into a really cool kid,with a great sense of humor (like his dad, natch), with one of the most creative and imaginative minds of anyone I know. The best part came at the end of the day when we were standing on Main Street, watching a great Halloween time fireworks display when out of nowhere he took my hand and held it while we watched the show. At that moment I felt like he was three again, but at the same time I felt like he was growing up.


PnL