“Is He Still in That Thing?”
Carol had been at my sink for about four minutes. “Is he still in that thing?”
“He is.”
“Josh would’ve been mortified at that age.”
I kept loading the dishwasher. I thought that if I didn’t turn around, maybe it would end faster. It didn’t.
Carol dried her hands, walked into the living room, and sat down on the arm of the couch beside him. Theo was holding Bea, a doll with half her hair cut off because Maya once decided she needed “a summer haircut” when she was five. Theo inherited her two years later. He takes her everywhere. The car, the dentist, the grocery store. Once he tried to bring her into the bathtub and cried when I told him it probably wasn’t good for her long-term health.Time & Calendars
For illustrative purposes onlyKitchen & Dining
“Big Boys Don’t Play With These”
Carol took the doll out of his hands and held it up where he couldn’t reach it. “Big boys don’t play with these. Should we go find you a truck?”
Theo didn’t grab for it. He didn’t cry. He simply put his hand out, palm up, and waited. The way you’d wait for a bus.
“Theo. Look at Grandma.”
