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Saturday Morning Fanfare

August 30th, 2008 Geaked Leave a comment Go to comments

My wife got up early with my 3 year old this morning.  I laid in bed awhile longer in that semi-sleep state that I (sometimes) enjoy on weekend mornings.  A short while later I feel movement on the mattress as my son hoists himself up onto the bed.  My eyes stay closed and I lay motionless hoping for a few more minutes of peace.  Just as quickly he’s back on the floor, heading out the door with the signature stride that comes from being barely past 3 feet tall.  Pat pat pat.  Quiet again.  I soon roll over and my hand comes into contact with a foreign object.  An object typically not found on the bed.  I squint through one, half-opened eye.  An empty paper towel tube has been deposited inches from my head.

The same plays out over several more trips.  I am now aware of my new morning friend as he pulls the covers over himself and lies next to me with a book.  He’s very quite to begin with.  But as he finishes that book and goes to retrieve another – each one bigger than the previous – he begins the slow crescendo of talk and movement.  Beginning with a whisper, he reads out loud to himself, words barely perceptible.  Something to do with people being careful of the cars.  I peek at him every so often.  He’s content, flipping through pages and studying the details of all the pictures with the scrutiny of a crime scene detective.

His next round-trip deposits four (4) fuzzy buddies, seven (7) matchbox cars and book number four (4) that’s the size of an LP.  How he carries all of this in his sticky little hands is a mystery.  The sticky probably helps.

His next ploy involves touching my cheek with his tiny index finger.  Tap tap tap.  I slowly open my eyes to see a big, beaming face only inches from mine, who giggles at the fact he’s got my attention.  Although still on my back, I’m now being shown pictures of engines and cabooses out of “The Big Train Book”.

“Look, here’s a purple one in the snow, Dad.”  Hmm, that’s curious.  There’s no ignoring the fact that I’m up and like a steam engine,  he is gathering momentum.  Jr. Geakz pulls one last tactic out of his bag of tricks to rouse a sleepy dad by transforming the aforementioned paper towel tube into a trumpet.  With fingers pumping imaginary valves and lips buzzing notes that go up and down some undiscovered musical scale, he toots away what sounds like the theme to Ben Hur.  The decibel level now has me sitting up, partly amazed at his creative fanfare, but mostly confounded at how he has managed to slowly and methodically bestir me from slumber and all in a way that doesn’t start my day with a headache.  I’m ready for coffee.  Let the day begin!

What’s your favorite way to wake up?

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  • I didn't know the Mz. blogged as well. Hello !
    No kids here and none planned in the near future.

    My late uncle used to live near Wadala Rd. station in Bombay and his apartment was adjacent to a Railway yard.

    You'd hear crashing of empty oil cars all day and boy those bangs were loud ! When making a consist, the engines would reverse at high speed with 2-3 cars attached. When enough momentum was gained, the cars would be released and the engine would brake. So the empty cars would roll down the tracks and stop with a BANG hitting a stationary car !

    Uncle and family were so used to it that it was possible for them to even get pleasant afternoon siestas ! Well, they lived there for more than 30 years.

    I loved visiting just to watch the trains. But I never got a good nights rest especially when shaken up to a horn sounding like this. (MP3 file)
  • Jaffer, you are a kid at heart! You have the spirit of an Uncle. You're comment should be a blog post in, and of itself. I can hear the noise and visualize the train engines releasing cars by your excellent description. The phrase 'living next to the railroad tracks', signifies the ability to block out things that most people would find distracting. It makes perfect sense.
    (Mz. Geakz is new at blogging and will take any support she can get. Thanks!)
  • Loved this story. These are the kind that let me consider for a moment being a parent. But you know I have a thing about fear. This is a biggie. Thanks for sharing. Smiles, smiles, smiles! My favorite way to wake up? Breakfast in bed with lots of bacon. And if you twist that around, I'm never coming back here!
  • Kathy! Being parents for us was 'unplanned'. It's wasn't even a consideration. I'm the last of five and my parents won't argue for a minute that numbers 2-5 were strategically thought out. I was in your camp a mere 3+ years ago and I still look at my kid and think, "Is he mine?" I have no regrets and try not to be the "hey, look at what my kid can do" kind of parent.
    I love that I can write, re-write, and write again a short story that makes someone smile. And you gave me THREE!
    As for: Bed. Breakfast. Bacon. How could ANYONE come up with something so disgusting as to keep a pro-blogger away??
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