Joe Time

I worry sometimes that I don't get enough "Joe Time," when it's just me and him.


Most mornings, because I take Joe to Children's House, I do get to spend almost an hour with him.  That time is special, particularly when we go to Bongo Java and play "States Bingo" or watch YouTube videos of hockey players (Joe probably as watched "James Neal 36" one hundred times).  Still, many mornings it's a bit hurried, as Joe finishes up watching "Super Why" or "Bob the Builder" while I get dressed, then we're out the door to school. 


It was different with J.P., or perhaps I just remember it differently.  It seems like he and I did a lot of stuff together, just the two of us.  Before Joe was born and maybe for a while afterwards, J.P. and I went to Belmont U. after dinner.  There, we played outside when it was warm and inside when it was cold.  I think the idea was to give Jude some down time after dinner.  Once he started playing sports, there have been plenty of times when J.P. and threw the baseball or football together.  Thus far, Joe has been a bit young for that type of thing.


Tonight, Jude took J.P. to Governor Haslam's annual "State of the State" speech at the State Capital building.  So, I picked up Joe from Children's House and we spent the night together.  It was awesome, because he was in a great mood the entire evening. 


At his request, we ate dinner at Martin's BBQ Joint on Belmont Blvd. (where he ate his standard grilled cheese sandwich AND chicken tenders, which is a recent development).  Then, we stopped in at Bongo Java to see who was working (Rachel and Hunter) and say hello.  We walked across the street to Belmont U., rode the upstairs and threw the football in the atrium outside the Curb Center.  Just like in times past with J.P., students walking by smiled as Joe called penalties on me and solemnly announced them to the pretend "crowd" or punctuated a touchdown by spiking the football.  We checked downstairs to see if anyone was playing racquetball, looked in "Twana's store" (I wonder where she is) then drove home.


Joe and I watched a video of the song "Happy" on the iPad, then read two books.  Next, it was upstairs to brush his teeth and get his pajamas on, all without a bit of fussing.  We read another book, then I put him to bed on his "big boy" mattress on the floor (converting his toddler bed frame to a double bed frame is an ongoing project of Jude's).  He went right to sleep.  Amazing.


That's Joe Time and I love it.