School Days

My son, Ian, is 4 years old and he just started pre-school. I walk him to school almost every morning, and while this started as a bit of a chore on the to-do list of never-ending to-dos, I have started to discover that both he and I are different people during that 15 minutes. I am not the disciplinarian Mom and he is (mostly, we'll see if it holds up) not the mercurial and whiny pre-schooler.

Our walk is brief, but long enough for some laughs and nuggets of wisdom, mainly from him. On a historical note, our walks take us through a park in the center of Hoboken that was the setting for a scene between Eva Marie Saint and Marlon Brando in the movie "On The Waterfront", and as we cross the street to approach his school, Frank Sinatra's high school stands nearby on the edge of the park. The park hasn't changed very much since Brando's walk there - the trees are large and leafy, large green-painted iron lamposts line the sidewalk and here and there someone is lounging on a bench watching the commuters. Even during "rush hour."

A few weeks ago, on our first day out, a quiz on seasons:

"Ian, what season is it?"

"I don't know," he says.

"It's Fall - what happens in Fall?"

Silence, and just as I'm about to help, he blurts out - "The leaves fall down!"

Then a follow-up question from him (this is usually the best part): "Mom, who puts the leaves back?"

I explain how the leaves change colors, fall and blow away, and in the Spring new green ones come out. He looks at me disbelieving.

"You watch," I say. He squeezes my hand and we cross the street together.