An Anniversary Gift

This past weekend my parents gave my husband and me the most wonderful gift for our 11th wedding anniversary: the gift of time. My mother picked up my son A.J. Friday morning, drove him to her house, and took care of him -- with a little help from my father and some other relatives -- until after lunch Saturday. This arrangement enabled my husband and me to have dinner at a nice restaurant and see a movie Friday night, then sleep in the next morning. What heaven!

A.J. seemed to enjoy his visit with my parents greatly. Friday afternoon, just before my husband and I got together for our "date," A.J. called me at the office to tell me about his day up to that point: he had eaten some zhong-zi/ba-tsang (sticky rice pyramids wrapped in lotus leaves) for lunch, ridden a train at White Flint Mall, visited his great aunt and cousins, and helped Ah-ma (my mother) cook spaghetti for dinner. He also had played with Kaori, a girl who is temporarily staying with my parents, who had danced with him to some jitterbug music and had given him a toy airplane from Japan.

After experiencing the novelty of sleeping on the sofabed in my parents' room Friday night, A.J. finished off his visit with my parents by "helping" them water the garden Saturday morning. According to reports, he ended up spraying both of my parents and himself as much as he did the plants! He seemed to have a wonderful time with my parents, judging by his great reluctance to gather his things and get in the car when my husband and I came to pick him up Saturday afternoon. I think my mother was a little tired of babysitting by that point, though!

I'm really grateful to my parents for their generous gift of time this weekend. It was really nice for my husband and me to take a break from being parents and enjoy being a couple again. It was good for A.J. to have the opportunity to bond with other members of the family as well.