Spring break's ending

Of all the coming and going, this was the hardest good-bye for me, both because of the longest upcoming absence from home (as many as 24 message-filled rings in the paper chain, representing each night mama is away!) and because the boys gave me such a fun and memorable 9 days. Last night, reading “Do you love me mama?” with the boys made me really sad. You know, it’s the little things that you do and talk about with these guys that makes leaving them so emotional: the way they show their love and concerns of me, the way they show affections towards each other and others, and the way we together make sense of things around us. For example, we were reading about the acid rain and the atmosphere, and Noah gets into his “call to action” mode, saying that that’s why we should drive hybrid cars, walk and bike instead of drive, and then, to my great surprise, he said, “and more people should study public health to learn about these things.” I was not just surprised but alarmed: gosh, I better live up to my son’s expectations!

Ben’s got the upcoming schedule figured out: Mama is going back to Berkeley (he actually says he doesn’t like my Berkeley teachers—who keep me there writing papers-), then Popo is coming, then mama comes back, then Nana and Papa come, and then they all get to go to CA for a short visit, then we ALL come home and Mama doesn’t go to Berkeley any more, YEAHH! You can see the joy in that “yeah”, and too bad we still have two months to go until that very day. To ease my homesickness, I took a lot of their drawings, which I’ll post on my dorm room walls (they churn out so many paintings daily, especially Noah).

Lastly, please allow me to indulge on this warm feeling: As I kissed them good-bye in the car, Noah’s told me, “mama you’ve got something you on your nose. You should wipe your nose”. There’s nothing like the feeling of being taken care of by your son! I sort of think he’ll be a good parent ☺