“Are you sure we’ll eat those two
cinnamon rolls?” I asked the boys.
“Yeah, they’re big, but we’ll eat
them,” they seemed to reply together.
Our eyes grew big as the woman
behind the counter brought us our cinnamon rolls. I started to wonder if we would indeed clear
our plates. Good thing there were us
three boys and only two of those humongous rolls.
The trip
was dual purpose: I wanted to explore
the downtown shops of our new hometown, and I wanted to spend some time having
fun with my sons. I’ve not been very
good about getting one-on-one(or one-on-two) time with Benjamin, 12, and
Jeremy, 8 so I took the opportunity to use a gift card for the Electric Brew
just blocks from our new home. We moved
to our new house in Goshen Indiana just 3 weeks earlier.
We took our
two hot chocolates, two cinnamon rolls (one cream cheese frosting and one with
caramel frosting), and one cup of the Bald Brothers Blend coffee to the outdoor
seating.
“What are
we going to do?” Ben asked as we sat down.
He’s not one to sit still and enjoy the moment. I had some work to do. “Can we take these and
go?” he asked, pointing to the mis-matched ceramic plates holding our morning
snack.
Knowing
this would lay the groundwork for future relaxation opportunities, I had to act quick to make sure my boys
understood the art of chilling. “No,
we’re just going to sit here and eat our rolls.” Looks of incredulity… -‘Think
harder Brian’, my brain was telling me. When the going gets tough go for the potty
humor: “We’re just going to sit here and relax eating our rolls and talk –
‘Shoot the bull’.” That got the snickers
and quick exchange of glances from the boys I was looking for. We sat there and made our small talk. So small that even now just a day later I
don’t remember specifically what we talked about. I do remember just enjoying the time spent
with my two sons enjoying each other’s company and probably learning a little
of how to bust each other’s chops.
