Forever Shirt
Sandler, being the rebel with a cause that he is, insisted we drive by the skatepark yesterday even though I was quite certain it was still locked up and closed. It didn’t take much for him to persuade me to at least take a gander and see if there was anyone rolling around. When we arrived however, the gates were wide open (I pretended not to notice the locks had been clipped) and he couldn’t get padded up and out of the car fast enough. He was greeted with welcoming cheers as he entered and it was about to be, in Sandler’s words, “The Best Day Evew!”
It had been months since he’d skated with his buddies who he had missed every minute of every day and to not only see them all in one place but to get the chance to finally hang out and skate together was a dream come true. The energy was contagious and each and every one there had a smile from ear to ear. Some even had a few happy tears flowing down their cheeks.
Sandler couldn’t have been more thrilled and observed his pals new hair styles, lengthy beards and new body ink acquired during the months he hadn’t seen them. One of his friends in particular had a new neck tattoo that absolutely fascinated him. He couldn’t get over the art and made sure to compliment him and let him know how utterly cool he thought it was.
While expressing his admiration for his pal’s new looks and enjoying the greatest skate session in months… security showed up to inform us that the park was indeed closed and it was time to head out and head home. We obliged and set off for what became a twenty minute car ride and conversation about Sandler’s desire to get some tattoos.
I explained that he’s not old enough one and more importantly whatever ink design he chooses in his distant future must have a lot of meaning because it will be on him forever. He wasn’t grasping my rationale of how much meaning permanent body art should have so I used the example of it being like wearing the same shirt every day for the rest of his life and he’d better really love it. I then reiterated that he needs to be much older (39 in fact) before making such a decision.
Per usual the conversation wasn’t forgotten. In fact, less than 24 hours later Sandler said, “Mommy… I know I’m not 39, but I’m a little older today and I know what means a lot to me and what tattoos I want to get. I would like Chucky (the doll), a skateboard and a curb on my shirt forevew.” He was so emphatic about it I had to honor his request. I used Sharpies to give it a somewhat permanent reality.
To all of those who couldn’t stop staring at his interesting body ink as he wizzed by on his skateboard today, you’re welcome for giving you something to talk about at dinner tonight.
- Nikki