Saturday

I woke up at 6am after staying in an awkward comatose to give my cosleeping buddy an extra hour of sleep. That last hour used to be my me-time but since I returned to work wake up has been shaky. He climbs on me as I attempt to do a few stretches and starts to rampage through my socks. He throws me a pair as I’m on the toilet. I fail to catch it. It lands right in between my legs, in the bowl.

40min later we are done with breakfast. I force-fed him some yogurt, a mandarin, and his bowl of porridge. The only things he gladly accepted were his vitamin gummies and a spoon of honey. All that happened while he was messing with the fridge touchscreen, now covered in stickers. I need to figure out how to turn it off, it's been a year...

By 830 we are on a trail in Los Osos. I had 4 ideas for the morning I google and agonized over until he was buckled in the car. It was still very early, I felt bold and went for the furthest, riskiest option. The trailhead was hidden. We missed it. Kiddo was only interested in digging holes with the trowel we got yesterday. The slick red anodized aluminum looks cool and fits his small hands, not mine. He lost patience after a dozen holes and asked me to dig a hole every 10 steps. We were not making much progress. I replied to a few notifications and messages while waiting for him. I aborted quickly trying to be more present. I was lost in thoughts while he played with sand and sticks for about an hour. Thanks to the earplugs I kept on, I managed to get us to the top of Broderson Peak.

I carried him on my shoulders on the way down. His legs squeezing my already stiff neck was making bone-rubbing noises. The full 2.3-mile hike took us 3 hours – an infuriatingly meditative pace. We were both happy to be back in the car. I blasted the Mexican radio hoping to keep him awake. He fell asleep 5 minutes before we got home.

That evening I met a dad chilling in the pool. After a few niceties, he dropped: "Yeah, you’re meeting me in a hot tub. I was also two and done, but then I remarried". That gem kicked me out of my stream of consciousness, as if reality caught up to my neurosis. What an close to an ordinary Saturday.

← Index / Published on 2025-03-08