Bonding Time

Apologies to anyone who read the shorter version of this that I posted on Instagram, but I just felt like I wanted to write about it just a bit more. 

Yesterday, my son spent his day making the burgers at McDonald's, and no, he was not lovin' it. Still, he came home in a great mood. After dinner, I was relaxing on the sofa, both cats asleep and purring on my lap, as Tom watched football. Devin suddenly announced that he wanted to go to Bull Moose Music, a locally owned chain of...entertainment emporiums? How else to describe a wonderland of new and used vinyl, CD's, movies, books, 25-cent cassettes and 30-cent VHS tapes? We do have one of these awesome stores about a mile or two from our house, but Devin was insistent that we drive a half hour to South Portland, to the Mill Creek location. After a few feeble protests, I made the sleeping feline creatures take their naps elsewhere, and fired up the Kia Soul (cause that's literally how I roll) for the journey to So Po. Devin was very open, chatty and funny on the ride there, and I was immediately glad I had agreed to this spontaneous shopping expedition. Anyone who knows teenagers knows that we have to appreciate these moments while we can, as the moods can change on a dime.

Upon entering the shop, I decided to make things interesting and restricted my browsing to the vinyl clearance section to see if there were any treasures to be found there. I breezed right past the used and 97-cent record sections, resisting the urge to just look a little bit, and if you know me, you know that wasn't easy for me. Ten minutes into my search....treasure found! A new, sealed copy of Japan's Tin Drum album marked 25% off. I grabbed that (and Devin tried unsuccessfully to wrestle it away from me) and knew that I would not leave the store without it! There were about 3 or 4 more records that I was mildly interested in, but I decided not to go too crazy, as my husband and son seem to like groceries in the house! They can be so selfish like that! I settled on the Japan album and a 50% off Liz Phair record, and was satisfied that I chose the right ones. (I am going back for that Concrete Blonde album as soon as I can!) Devin was free to browse and purchase anything he liked (that sweet McDonald's money!), and he ended up buying the 25th anniversary edition of Oasis' Definitely Maybe. 

Devin browsing

As we exited the store, I figured we would just head on home, but Devin had other ideas. He asked "do you want to go to Burger King and get drinks and sit for awhile?". My icy heart melted at the thought that my beloved son actually wanted to spend more time with me! How could I possibly say no to that? So, cut to us at Burger King, me enjoying a Vanilla Diet Coke, Devin a vanilla milkshake and onion rings. We talked a bit, but our conversation was interrupted several times by a loud young girl, about 8 years old, who was dancing around, screaming loudly and constantly coming over to our table to ask us questions. I love kids, and Devin and I were nice to her, but we seriously wondered why her mother just sat like a lump in her booth, allowing her child to run around, interacting with strangers. This kid was the Quizmaster: "where did you get your glasses?" "what kind of phone do you have?" "Can I see it?" "what kind of phone does HE have?" "what kind of car do you have?" "Wanna wear this BK crown?" and on and on and on.

My favorite part of the evening was the ride home. Devin was so open with me as we talked about his feelings on certain topics, about his future plans, etc. I just let him talk and listened for the most part, waiting for his queue that my advice was wanted. I was realistic but encouraging in my advice, because I did not want to discourage his dreams but I wanted him to know that he will have to work hard to achieve them. We laughed and joked a lot as well, and I cherished every minute of it. A year from now, he could be off to college or starting his life elsewhere, so I am going to hang on to these moments while I can, and savor them. 

And, yes, he did wear the crown from the Quizmaster!