The story goes like this…
Daddy was a cross country runner in his youth. He is now a long-distance walker. It’s part of his lifestyle to stay healthy. He walks at least six miles on weekdays. He wakes up at 4 a.m. and leaves the house at 4:30 a.m. He’s back around 6.30 a.m.; enough time to rest, shower, and then cook breakfast. This has been a four-year-old routine. I truly admire his discipline and dedication.
Three weeks ago, Nicholas approached me and said that he’d very much like to join his Dad’s early morning walks. But he wasn’t sure if Daddy will agree because morning walks serve as Daddy’s “me time.” I told Daddy about it but we didn’t tell Nicholas that Daddy knew as we waited for him to muster the courage to ask his Dad.
LAST week, on a Sunday, he finally did it.
“I’m going to be brave and ask Daddy anyway, Mom,” he said after narrating the fifth story of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.”
Daddy was seated on the couch and with a loud sigh, Nicholas just approached him and said, “Dad, can I go with you on your walk?”
“I don’t know if you’re going to be able to endure a steep walk Nick but OK. But first we need to get you walking shoes because you’ve outgrown every footwear, you have,” was Dad’s reply.
On Monday, Dad came home with a pair of brand new shoes for Nicholas. It was nothing fancy but Nicholas’ face lit up and flashed a big smile that emphasized his handsome face.
Father and son agreed to wake up at 4 a.m. on Tuesday for their walk. Nicholas slept at 7 p.m. on Monday night but he woke up at 10 p.m. and then at 1 a.m. clearly excited about his morning walk with Dad. So when Jeff woke him up at 4 a.m., Nicholas didn’t budge. He was sleeping so comfortably on the bunk bed that he shares with his baby brother.
So Jeff left for his walk.
At 5 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, I woke up to the sound of disappointed sobs. First thought in my mind? I must be in a horror movie. Uh, no, it was Nick. The firstborn was crying because Daddy left and he wasn’t with him.
He cried for another five minutes and then asked for my opinion as to “Where did I go wrong?”
It was such a sincere, cute question that I wanted to just hug him. So we worked on a plan to ensure that he wakes up at 4 a.m.
“I will sleep on the couch,” he said.
And so he did.
Well not before he prepared his clothes, shoes, and socks and then slept at 8 p.m. He woke up around midnight and then I told him to go back to sleep because it’s four hours before 4 a.m.
He woke up again at 3:22 a.m.
“What time is it, Mom?”
“It’s twenty-two minutes after 3 a.m.”
“It’s time to get dressed.”
“It’s early Nick. You can go back to bed,” was my sleepy protest.
“No Mom. I’m too excited about this. I’m on a hyper drive!”
“Where did you learn that expression?”
“I don’t know. But it sounds like me so I said it,” a giggling Nick replied.
The giggle is a classic Nick reaction when he catches himself saying something silly.
Time check: 3:52 a.m.
Daddy is still asleep as Nick is all set with his trekking pole, flashlight, and P30 that he will use to buy 10 pieces of hot pan de sal as his pasalubong for me.
—
They left at 4:34 a.m.
