balloon launch.

This story begins at Truett's Grill, one of my two favorite places, the other being Target. P absolutely loves the train at Truett's. And I absolutely love being able to sit down to eat with an entertained and complacent child. So, we are frequent guests at our local Truett's. For the train. And their sweet tea. I should mention, because you need the entire story, that P busted it big time on the concrete outside while we were waiting on our table. He tripped, smacked his forehead on the concrete, and quickly developed a bright purplish-blue knot on the middle of his forehead. Nice. Why does it seem that my child is the only nineteen month old that consistently has a fresh scrape or bruise somewhere on his body that is never easy to conceal with clothing? I wonder what runs through people's minds when they see my banged up child. Anyway, the nice waitress brought P a bright red balloon, which also provided some entertainment for my busy son. And so it began. Rather quickly, P developed a connection with his bright red Truett's balloon. We tied it on his wrist. While he ate lunch, we tied it to the high chair. He held his bright red balloon in the car for the entire ride home. He begged me to let him sleep with his balloon, but I drew the line there. After his nap, he immediately looked for his bright red balloon and insisted I tie it on his wrist again. And there it remained. I quickly realized that my son was not going to be able to handle the death of this balloon. Neither deflation or popping would go over well. And try as I may, there was no way this balloon would make it to day's end. To avoid a meltdown, I decided we must release this coveted balloon. And I talked it up to P. He was convinced that his bright red balloon would be launched into the sky, where it would spend the rest of its life with the sun and the moon, the birds and the planes. P was thrilled with our plan. And I patted myself on the back for my quick thinking and creativity.

So, we headed down to the reservoir, just before sunset, for our official balloon launch. And the hat? Once I realized there were other people at the park, I frantically searched my car for something to cover up that nice purplish-blue knot on P's forehead. The one from Treutt's. Remember? The hat worked out great concealing the knot, and it made for some pretty cute pictures of my sweet boy.


P played and played, balloon in tow.


And just before sunset, we prepared for our big launch. He was ready to set his bright red balloon free. He wanted his balloon to have a better life. A life much better than he could offer, couped up in this tiny house. His balloon needed room to fly.



"And on the count of three, P, let the balloon go, so it can float high on the air. And float away to the sun and the moon, the birds and the planes. Are you ready? One, two, three!" And on the count of maybe five or six, P released his bright red balloon. He had a moment of regret, then quickly remembered it was for the best. We watched the balloon float higher and higher....


....until it floated off into the sunset.