Introducing Thomas

Here he is, Freddie's new friend Thomas, sitting in "the beach chair looking at the dolphins and starfish."  Freddie searched for my camera yesterday afternoon specifically to take a few pictures of Thomas at the beach.

Thomas sitting in the beach chair.  Photo courtesy of Freddie.

And here he is again, playing.  Well, patiently waiting his turn.  Thomas gets told he can wait "one minute and then he can have a turn" quite a bit.

Thomas showed up at our house a few weeks ago.  He came not long after Freddie started telling me he wanted to go to school with the big boys.  He'll put on his backpack and carry around his lunch box, give me a kiss goodbye, and tell me he's going to school with his friends.  His friend "Big Boy" finally got the name of Thomas after about a week of playing at our house.  Freddie opens the front door a few afternoons a week to let him in to play.

Freddie's been very much into imaginative play over the last 6 or so months, and the scenarios get more and more complex with each day.  It's hard for me to keep up with what's going on since he uses few or no props to give me some clues.  Often he'll slouch his shoulders down and just about roll his eyes with this look of disappointment if I don't realize the baby fox is sitting by my feet waiting for some milk.  Get with it, Mom.

Sometimes when Thomas arrives and they "go to school" together I feel a little tug at my heart because I feel like I'm not providing him with something he needs, either attention from me or time with kids his age even though this play is developmentally normal.  Nothing like a little Mommy guilt, eh.

I have vivid memories of instructing my grandmother to hold open the back door of her yellow Oldsmobile Cutlass for my gaggle of "friends" to climb in with me, including the likes of kids named Wheatsie and Stapler.  For years and years she kept the list of their names written on a scrap of paper in the kitchen "junk drawer."  There were at least seven or so regulars who'd hang around to play, and their names every bit as crazy creative as "Wheatsie" and "Stapler."  Maybe that was a New Orleans thing, y'all.

And Charlie's buddy was "Duke."  Yeah, I know what you're thinking.  I'd name my kid Wheatsie long before I'd name him Duke, too.

I don't know what ever happened to Wheatsie and Stapler.  It'll be interesting to see how long Thomas comes over to play.  I have a feeling when cabin fever sets in this winter we may end up seeing a lot of Thomas and he may even bring a few friends.