Tomorrow I leave for Louisville for a few days to attend the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit. I’ll be speaking on Friday afternoon about how to advocate for orphans as a busy mom (more on that later). I will also be a part of a blogger’s meet-up on Thursday night. So if you are going, stop by and say hi, and put me out of my socially-awkward misery. Because I’m introverted and horrible at chit-chat. Just come up to me and break right into something philosophical or inappropriate, and I will love you forever. I decided to take Jafta on this trip with me, because I miss my kids terribly whenever I’m gone, and I thought it could create a fun memory for the two of us. I waited to tell him about the trip until yesterday, because I know my son, and I knew exactly what would happen once I told him about it: he would talk incessantly about the trip until we left. So I broke the news to him yesterday, and he is out-of-his-mind excited. And also, gloating. A lot. Earlier this year, I would about a time that I visited Jafta’s class for his birthday and was mortified to find that my typically mild-mannered and considerate son turned into a power-hungry tyrant the minute the birthday crown was placed on his head. Similarly, he is practically glowing in his entitlement about going on a special trip with mommy. I asked him not to talk to his siblings about it, because I didn’t want him rubbing it in. So he has spend the day alternating between rubbing it in anyways, or calling me back into a bedroom so we could confer with hushed tones about the trip. It got so bad that mid-day I forbade him from talking about the trip, and refused to answer any pleas that he NEEDED TO TALK TO ME URGENTLY IN PRIVATE. He has seriously been acting like the two of us are planning some grand espionage scheme, rather than a long trip on economy class to Kentucky. And all of this excitement was despite the fact that he didn’t even know the whole story, which is that my sister-in-law Jodie is also going on the trip, along with her own 6-year-old son. Duzi was adopted about a year ago and the boys haven’t had much time together, so we orchestrated a little “Cousin Summit” for them. I was so excited to tell Jafta, but again I knew my persistent and neurotic son would speak of nothing else until the event happened. So I waited until this afternoon to break the news, and Jafta’s reaction was pretty much what I expected. It is nearly 2am and I am frantically packing (or should I say avoiding packing), and Jafta is STILL AWAKE and every few minutes calling me in and asking some minute detail about the trip. Like will Duzi wear jeans or shorts? Will they meet us at the airport? And will he and Duzi get to go swimming? And will Duzi use a booster seat, and will Duzi have an ipad, and can we skype with him right now??? Oh my word. This may be a long night. Just for fun (and really, to show to Jodie) I taped his reaction of learning that Duzi was coming. Notice at the end, when he throws in the part about not telling Kembe and India. He is loving this special privilege WAY too much. It’s pretty cute – even if it does keep him up all night.
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