the graduate

today my cousin Scott—aka the one person who prepared me more than any book, class or fellow parent did or could for having a boy—graduated from fifth grade.

fifth grade!

i held this kid when he was, like, a week old. i changed his diapers. i endured a several-hour car ride to family reunion in Connecticut while he, at about five months old, screamed his bald little head off. i stood in the shallow end of my parents’ pool on many summer days and caught toddler Scott as he leaped into the water with abandon (and floaties on his arms). i ‘chaperoned’ one of his early birthday parties, which had a carnival theme and which included five or six-year olds wielding mini golf clubs. (i made it out unscathed.) we’ve done a million things together since he was born eleven years and five months ago, from picking pumpkins, ice skating and taking train rides to meals at Friendly’s and riding down Super Slides in tandem to attending Yankees games and a Wizard of Oz sing-along.

one of the most enduring memories is the night the power went out while Michael and i were babysitting. not the best scenario when you’ve got an uber-energetic four-year old on your hands, but—we somehow procured a flashlight and found plenty of ways to entertain ourselves. there was a point, though, when we fell over laughing. as the flashlight illuminated his little body, Scott noticed his shadow on the wall. with his voice full of awe and solemnity and a twinge of trepidation, he turned around to us and said, “dyes?” (read: guys) “do you see whoth behind me?”

my other favorite Scotty moment was from around the same time. i think it was during another babysitting gig. he asked me at one point, “have you seen my doose.” i thought he was referring to his juice. i think at the time he was working on some chocolate milk, so i keep trying to give him his milk, explaining there was no juice. finally, out of sheer exasperation, he flung his arms up and said to me, “not doose, dooooooze.” i think his dad stepped in at that point and got Scott his toy tool belt. he’d wanted tools, not juice.

oh, this kid. i really can’t imagine life without him. it would certainly be a helluva lot duller. i’m eagerly awaiting the details of his ‘graduation’ today, which wasn’t a formal cap-and-gown ceremony. at his school they call it a clap-out. bubble wrap is put on the hallway floors, all through the school. the other students then line the hallways and clap as the fifth graders run by, on the bubble wrap, making a racket i can’t even imagine. waiting outside for the soon-to-be middle schoolers are all the proud parents (as my Aunt Val e-mailed me earlier, “the clap out starts at 1:00. my face will be red and blotchy from crying at 1:05.”).

what a cool way to celebrate a pretty big milestone. and what a cool kid my little baby cousin Scotty has grown up to be.

mbm