COLD DAY
My friend Kelly came over with her two children and we all went to the park. It was a freezing day. The kind where your breath comes out in smoky puffs and comes in like liquid fire. But I needed a change of scenery so we gave it a shot. For the first time I wore a bright turquoise hat and glove set I'd gotten at Christmas. Henry kept glancing at speculatively. Then he reached over (I was pushing him on the whirli-gig thing) and gently removed it. Kept staring at it. Finally he put it on himself. I decided he must be cold and offered him my gloves too, which he put on in a fascinated manner (and backwards) as if never having seen gloves before. Flexed his hands in the thin fleece, staring at them. Finaly he took off the whole set, but didn't give it back to me or drop it on the ground. He held everything carefully, cradling it to his chest like a precious treasure. Very unlike his usual M.O. Once back in the car he lost all interest, and has not even spared glance at these things though I laid them out temptingly next to his coat this morning. Who knows what that briefly tender attachment was all about? Maybe it was just a subtle "I can't believe Mom went out in public wearing that ridiculous hat." moment!