The Nap Chart

When I picked up Luke from school today I scooped him up in my arms and gave him a big hug and a kiss. I asked him the customary question - whether he had taken a nap today. He gave me the same puzzled look he always does, and told me to "check the chart." CDL has a nap chart that lists every child's name and the time they took a nap.

I walked Luke over in my arms and we checked the chart. I asked him to find his name and he quickly identified "Luke." There were two words next to his name. I asked him what the first word was. He correctly said, "No." Then I asked him what he thought the second word was. He said, "Nap."

I said, "Yes Luke...it says No Nap next to your name so that means you didn't take a nap. If it had a time next to your name, then that was the time you took a nap."

Luke studied the chart a minute, and then said, "Daddy...Keira took a nap." I looked at the chart. Next to Keira's name was 12:45-1:40. There were only three children who took a nap today out of a possible 15, and Keira was one of them. The other two were Katie and Francis. It didn't seem like it could be just a guess, although Keira is one of Luke's good friends. So I asked, "Luke...who else took a nap?" I waited a few seconds.

"Francis."

"And daddy...Augie didn't take a nap," said Luke as he pointed to Augie's name. I told Luke I was proud of him for learning how to read. He didn't seem to think it was too big of a deal.

I couldn't wait to get home and tell you the story. I let Luke watch ONE Transformers episode while I took the dogs out to pee in the yard. Then I came in and switched to ESPN for a minute while I fixed mac and cheese and Luke played with his trains. At that point, Luke informed me that his favorite team was the Cardinals.

We ate the mac and cheese and a banana. I started writing this email at the table as he ate. There are random words and errors in my signature because he would playfully reach over and hit the "page down" button every now and then as I typed. He would giggle at me, delighted at his mischief. After he ate, he informed me that he had to go poop. I told him that he was old enough to do it himself and that I wanted him to try. I said, "Even if you mess up, that's okay because we're going to take a shower."

I went back to finish the email. About when I wrote the word 'Augie' I heard a terrifying scream from Luke - "Daddddy HELP!!!" I sprinted into the bathroom. Luke was in the shower. He had pooped, wiped, flushed, taken his clothes off, hopped in the shower and turned the water on. The reason for the blood-curtling scream was that he hasn't quite figured out that it takes a minute for the water to warm up.

So I'm typing a few more lines on the email while I listen to Luke talking to himself in the shower. He's growing up fast, babe. I thought about correcting my signature but the day will come when I miss his little finger reaching over to press the buttons.