September Visit in D.C.

            Our plane lands in Baltimore. We are eager to be on our way to Washington DC so we can surprise Austin and pick him up after school.  We haven’t done this since last school year. An Uber car takes us to 15^thStreet N.E. in good time.  We drop our carry-ons at the house and walk across the street to Miner Elementary School. We are directed from the entrance to take a left and a right …We promptly get lost as we wander down the wide, newly painted hallways in the cool air conditioning.  We peek into classrooms where kids are gathered for after school day care.  “These kids look too young to be in Austin’s group,” I say to Art. 

            Then I spot Mrs. Mukendi, Austin’s preschool teacher standing in the hall.  Art is so excited he goes up to her to say hello and asks “Where is Hayden?”  He reminds her that we are his grandparents and she does remember us from last year.  Only I have to interject apologetically, “He means Austin”.  She points down the hall to the cafeteria where kids are seated at round tables having snack.  I look across the large room for a curly blonde head.  “There he is!”  When Austin sees us he grins and reaches out for a small hug and goes back to playing with a little girl sitting next to him.  He’s happy to see us and yet not in a big rush to come home as he was last year.  He’s playing with a new race car he brought in his backpack and tells me “Daddy brought it from Korea.”  He always surprises me because he is so aware of where his parents travel and can tell you the countries where they have been.

            We lure Austin away and he tells us “Tonight is Back to School night…we get to come back.”  But in the meantime we need to walk the dog , so I persuade Austin to get out his scooter and show us some of his expert moves.  He puts on his helmet and we head out. I have to walk fast not to lose sight of him as he flies down the city blocks around the neighborhood that he knows so well. Amazingly he never forgets to stop completely at an intersection. He has been taught since he was very small never to venture into the street.  City living has its advantages and kids do learn to pay attention and be aware of cars, people, and stop signs.

            Now in PreK-4 Austin is so at home in his classroom.  We go back with Mom and Dad in the evening and he shows us where everything is and he’s delighted to see some of his classmates he just left earlier.  Some are there with their parents.  It’s all very friendly and we can hardly drag Austin away when the evening is finished.

            Friday morning, though, Austin decides he’d rather “hang out” with us than go off to school.  We are a big distraction.  Jessica needs to be out the door to catch her bus for work but she calmly takes a moment to sit Austin down on the bottom step of the stairway.  She takes the Miner Elementary School Absentee Policy from the hall table, sits next to him, and reads it out loud.  He listens while we watch in amazement wondering how much he understands.  Then she hugs him, tells him to have a fun day, and goes out the door to work. Austin puts on his shoes without a fuss, grabs his backpack and is ready to be walked across the street to school. Afterwards Art and I both agree that that is “brilliant parenting”.  Would it work for all children?  I don’t know… but because Austin listens and is used to having things explained to him.  It definitely works for him.

            The rain holds off on Saturday which means we get to go to T-Ball practice.  “My Mommy is the coach,” Austin tells us.   Austin puts on his bright blue Capitol Hill Baseball t-shirt  which is on the big side. He has always hated wearing hats but I notice he easily puts on his navy baseball cap.  We pile into the “Mini” car, as Austin calls it, and we are off to the park with equipment and snacks.  Jess puts on her cap and is perfect in her role as coach.  Art and I watch as kids slowly arrive until there are about 10  or 12 four-year-old’s…all boys of all abilities…with parents and even some grandparents.  The park is full of other teams doing the same.  Austin has told me, “we are the Tigers”. 

The Tigers at practice with Coach Jess...

            Jess goes around enthusiastically welcoming each of her players and then starts the warm up and drills.  She is completely tuned in to four-year-old’s as they get down to do what she announces will be 50 pushups.  “One, two, three, four…forty nine and fifty! Nice…” She laughs.  They practice running from marker to marker and then get to do some batting setting the ball on the T and swinging.  Art and I watch fascinated. 

One little boy cries through most of the practice as his parents get him to try and participate but somehow nothing seems to suit him.  Some kids get confused about running to and from the markers, others swing hard but miss the ball entirely.  No one stops to take note and Coach Jess keeps the kids moving.  Austin loves it and runs around like the pro that he is having lived and breathed baseball since he was very young.  Hayden and Jessica are huge baseball fans and he grew up going to Nationals games in DC.  He has the moves and is good at imitating stances as he's seen the real baseball players do.  

The kid with the moves....

            Halfway through practice Coach Jess announces “we are going to play a game now with the Cubs”.  About 10 - 12 kids in red shirts come over from the other side of the park and they play a game. There is lots of help from parents on each base while the coaches supervise the batting.  It’s all very upbeat and kept fun whether mistakes are made or the ball goes nowhere off the T.  When the game is over there are no winners and losers and each team lines up to high five the other players in a show of good sportsmanship.  Jess gathers her little team and they huddle for one last cheer.  “See you guys next week,” she says cheerfully.  Then they run over to pick up their snack sack which one of the parents has prepared.  

Coach Jess with her team...

Austin loves it all and surprisingly he has not gained any special favors nor seemingly suffered resentment from anyone for being the coach’s son.  He blends right in with the other kids. I like that.  It reminds me of Hayden who went to school from K – 12^thgrade where Art was always the principal.   It never bothered him nor did he ever complain of kids giving him a hard time because of it.

While at Austin’s house I look for the things we always enjoy doing together.  We play  games and this visit he seems to have caught on to playing Checkers.  At bedtime he still likes to cuddle up and have me read to him.  We giggle together over the Gerald and Piggy stories by Mo Willems like we always have. Austin gets the humor.  But he also likes to listen to longer stories now. When we go places in the car he announces “ And Grandma  gets to sit next to me,” because I always have… and because I can still crawl into the back seat of the two door Mini which isn’t easy. At my birthday brunch on Sunday morning Austin is glued next to me when the waitress brings a surprise dessert of baklava with a single candle.  He makes the wish and we both blow out the candle.

Learning to play checkers...

Happy Birthday to me...

This visit I notice a new level of self-confidence and independence in Austin.  Jess attributes it to Tony’s summer day camp where she likes to joke that Austin “went off a little boy and came back a man!”  Austin is a “survivor” of Tony’s Capitol Hill camp where campers were taken on a different field trip all over the hot city every day of the week on public transportation. This required a level of stamina beyond what the usual four-year-old  can do but somehow Austin just stood up to it all and loved it though he came home exhausted. He lost his shyness and gave up his long afternoon nap and learned to ride every combination of bus, metro,  and trolley in DC.  Now he is  the “expert” and can tell you where the buses go. Taking him to the children's section of the Indian American Museum or the Children’s Garden in the National Botanical Gardens by the Capitol,  Austin knows where to go because he’s been there...and he remembers.  He is totally at home in his city of Washington D.C.

National Botanical Gardens

      Sunday afternoon comes too quickly. Austin gives me one of his pieces of artwork from his easel that he makes especially for me.  I fold it carefully and promise to display it when I get home.  We have one last hug and kiss and then we are on our way to Baltimore and soon home to Asheville.  When I next see Austin it will be Christmas and he will be almost five.  I know he will have gone in new directions in his growing up,  but he will be the same loving and sweet little boy he's always been.  I like to know that as his grandparents we are a  part of his life, and as important to him as he is to us.