The little guy and I had our first day alone together in quite a while as my wife officially went back to work today after the holidays. It was nice to be together as a family, but of course it is also nice to fall back into our “positions” again too.

One thing that is different is that when the little guy and I are together, he rarely whines.  But when mom’s around, it’s abundant – at the dinner table, when playing, and so on.  And playing is also of a different style when it is just me and him.

I have always enjoyed playing with my son – he has a good personality and sense of humor, so it makes playing a joy.  Today I was reminded of that while we played outside in the snow, and played around the house with a ball (he can play with a ball for hours), and when we read countless books (also one he can do for hours).  I was reminded of one key “play” thing that me and him have that really only comes out when we are alone together: he likes to be scared/thrilled/surprised.

Today while we played with the ball, it eventually became a game of “keep away”, where he tried to run away from me with the ball before I could catch him.  He would go to the table and run around it, and then I would catch him at the end and yell noisily, and he would jump and squeal with fear and pleasure, and then it would start again as he went in the other direction.  Making matters humorous for me was his crazy laughter and the lack of balance while running, especially while he was in a hurry to “get away.”  Then at the end of our play time in that game, he ran up to me and gave me a huge kiss and hug.  That’s a special thrill of its own 🙂