Max has decided he would like to run away from home. That became clear as of 6:30 this morning, when he popped out of our bed and took off for his room. Dave got up, and I heard some commotion. Groggily, I headed over to see what was going on.
Max has had a gigantic green suitcase sitting in his room since last week, when Dave came home from a business trip and Max insisted on keeping it there. After that, he began talking about sleeping over at his friend C's house (the kid has an actual name, just respecting his privacy). Mind you, he's never even had a playdate with C, who's in his school. Despite repeated requests (even pleas!) from me, C's mom is never able to commit to a date, and I am not sure why. This hasn't stopped Max and his fantasies.
"Eeee! Ahh! Ayleh's! Ouse!" he tells me ("Sleep! At! C's! House!"). Then he counts to ten, because he wants to sleep there for ten nights. He says this phrase approximately every fifteen minutes, just in case I haven't gotten the message but mostly because I think he just loves the thought of it. Max only wants to go to C's house; bringing him here, not so much.
Anyway, I walked into Max's room. Max had emptied his drawers of clothes, and piled them on top of the suitcase, along with his favorite book and a picture of a blue car he had made for C during his last occupational therapy session (because C's favorite color is blue).
"Eeee! Ahh! Ayleh's! Ouse!" he said, gleefully.
He and Dave had worked out a full fantasy day. Dave recounted it to me as Max nodded in agreement: First, Max and C would go bowling. Then they would proceed to Chuck E Cheese's, where Max would down spaghetti with sauce, followed by chocolate ice-cream (three!), and C would have chicken nuggets and ketchup. Then he'd sleep at C's house, for ten nights.
So, Max wants to run away. I am a little bummed that I haven't succeeded in booking a playdate with C, let alone a sleepover, but I will press on. Meanwhile, the pile of clothes shall remain on the suitcase. Drawers are overrated, anyway.
