We celebrated my aunt’s 63rd birthday two weeks ago at a Chinese restaurant in San Leandro. My nephew Logan restlessly watched us as we chowed down. Poor kid doesn’t like to eat at all.
My mom tells people that we didn’t like to eat as kids, but that’s because we were fed oatmeal, veggies, and rice…healthy stuff.
I brought Logan a scoop of ice-cream. It just sat there melting. “Ice-cream. Yummy! Yummy!” No go. He stared at it indifferently.
I felt sorry for the poor fella. Everyone telling him to keep still while we smacked away.
“C’mon, honey, let’s go look at the gumball machines.” He pushed his way through the chairs, grabbed my hand, and led me in the right direction.
“What do you want…a ball? Let’s get a ball. What else…stickers? Let’s get stickers.”
I’m practically talking to myself because the kid barely talks. He can read out loud, but his conversation skills are delayed.
I feed machine after machine with quarter after quarter. We go back to the table with his loot.
When his mom, my cousin, finishes eating, she takes Logan back to the gumball machines. She returns, laughing, “When we got over there, he said, ‘Auntie…money. Auntie has money!’ “
That cracked me up. I need to make sure I keep this kid away from the guys I’m dating. Otherwise, I’ll be paying for their toys as well.
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