Not dead yet

Campbell has a little friend, whom I’ll call Jake, and he has been begging to have a playdate with him for ages. I’m seriously horrible about setting up playdates for my kids. It’s like I’m missing some sort of chip in my mommy-circuitry. I just can’t manage to arrange for them. And then when another mom asks if my kids can visit, I always feel awful for not returning the favor. Of course, that guilt doesn’t translate into scheduling any playdates.

Anyway. . .

The other day in the car, out of the blue, Campbell and I had this chat.

C: Mom, is Jake dead?

H: Good heavens! No. He’s not dead. He’s just fine.

C: Can I have a playdate with him then?

As soon as I got home, I e-mailed Jake’s mom, who is all kinds of awesome, to see if he was available, telling her about Campbell’s question. She invited him over for some play time.

Yesterday was the big day. As soon as Campbell popped out of bed, his first words were, “Today is the day I’m going to Jake’s house.” Then he scampered off to get dressed. He returned to the living room holding his underpants and announced, “I’m wearing my Wall-E underpants because Jake loves Wall-E.” Except he still can’t pronounce his Ls, so it sounded extra cute.

I took him to Jake’s house after preschool, and I had barely parked the car before Campbell was pinging around the back of the car in excitement – picture a superball in boy form. As soon as I opened the door, Campbell and Jake were off and running.

He came home later in the day, already asking when his next playdate with Jake is going to be. I’d better schedule it before he becomes convinced Jake is dead again.