Perfect For You

My son Alex went on his first Cub Scout sleepover two weeks ago.  The scouts went to stay overnight inside the fabulous Monterey Bay Aquarium, taking the phrase "sleeping with the fishes" to a whole new meaning.  We didn't think he was going to be able to go, since I had to work on Monday and his dad was away on a business trip in China.  At the last minute, the Cubmaster came to the rescue and volunteered to take Alex along with his family.

We hurried around the house, gathering up his gear for the sleepover--a flashlight, a sleeping bag, clean underwear, a toothbrush.  He had his allowance in his wallet, and I gave him an extra $5 so he could buy a souvenir or a snack if he needed to.  He was thrilled to be going and to be on his own.

He returned the next day, triumphant.  The sleepover was a lot of fun, though not much sleeping was done by the 30 or so 8-10 year old boys and parents there.  The fish evidently bang into the side of the glass at night when the lights go out, and someone at the Aquarium forgot to turn off the Muzak.  The noise and the excitement kept the boys up most of the night.  It was quite an adventure, and he loved every minute, despite being a little sleepy the next day.

He carried in with him a small bag from the Aquarium gift shop.  I figured he had bought a toy or a stuffed animal.  He handed it to me, and said, "I got you something!  Open it! Open it!"   He had a look of pure joy and excitement on his face.

I peeked inside the bag, and pulled out a beautiful little glass turtle, trimmed in gold that caught the light. 

"Wow!" I said as I hugged him, "That's beautiful!  I love it.  Thank you so much!"

He thought for a moment and said, "You know, they had different things, like a sea horse and a fish and a starfish.  But I knew a turtle would be perfect for you.  I knew a turtle would make you happiest of all."

He's right.  In all of our travels, we have gone to great lengths to see turtles on land and sea, from the nesting leatherbacks in Costa Rica and green sea turtles in Hawaii to the giant land tortoises in the Seychelles and Galapagos.  Turtles make me happy.  The fact that my son knew that and chose a gift for me based on that, meant more to me than probably any gift I've ever gotten.  I think the best gifts are those that are unexpected and show the giver knows something about you, expecially the small details. 

Thanks for the turtle, Alex.  And thanks for being the thoughtful and generous soul that you are. 

This post is part of the Parent Blogger Network's BlogBlast for Excitations .

Comments

[GraceD]

Excellent, lovely. You've got an amazing kid. And, you groove on the turtles, too. Sweetness all around.

But, I'm sorry, Glennia - I'm still snickering like the snarky bad girl I am at the weirdness of this:

"The fish evidently bang into the side of the glass at night when the lights go out..."

The hell?! Hopefully the kids slept in the low impact jellyfish room rather than anywhere near the shark tank or those giant-ass tunafish.

[aquaken]

Hmmm, not sure about the fish banging into windows at night. I'm Ken and I work at the aquarium, and as far as I (and our animal care staff) know, they navigate just as well at night as during the daytime. We never turn off the lights.

If the Scouts weren't sleeping I hope it had more to do with excitement than with fish bumps.

[BirdieRoark]

OK, I am a royal dork. But that post made me tear up. I so look forward to the day that my kiddo goes on a grand adventure and brings me back something special. So sweet.

[chilihead]

How wonderful! I love the thoughtfulness of children. They're much more in tune than some give them credit for.