My mom left after an extended stay with us and I feel like the poorest of substitutes. She and Sweetpea bonded so much over this particular trip, more than grandma and grandson, more than best friends, really like a couple in love. They were joined at the hip from the first moment of the morning when he would awake her with a kiss while she was pretending to still be asleep in her bed, to the inevitable Romeo and Juliet like forced separation of bedtime.
Now that she left, I happily resumed my role or so I thought. I tried to emulate the activities which they had fun having together like jumping on the trampoline or “fishing” his toy things from the pool. When he turned to me dejectedly and told me in the saddest voice: “I don’t want to jump on the trampoline anymore”, I suddenly felt like the rebound girlfriend who has failed to live up to the guy’s ideal of his ex. Remember the scene in Annie Hall where Woody Allen artificially recreates a funny, spontaneous moment he had had with Diane and a couple of fugitive lobsters in the kitchen of their country home and the new girlfriend is just standing there smoking, with a dead look in her eyes, like she JUST doesn’t get it? That’s me. I guess I should count my blessings. At least he is not trying to get me to the hairdresser to change my do or find just the right model gray suit to remind him of his true love!
I finally realized the best thing to do is try not to compete. Find our own stuff to do, so I can’t be measured up. So yesterday, I took him on a wild safari adventure (at Petco), an exhilirating triathlon meet (the playground), and finished off with an exotic exploration of the culinary world (McDonald’s). I think I am back in his good graces 🙂
