Charlotte’s Web

Braedan and I just finished Charlotte’s Web, keeping us up much later on the night before the first day of school than I should have allowed. I warned him yesterday that the ending would make me cry, an idea that fascinated him all day, as he waited with breath equally bated for the end of the story and for a glimpse at his mother’s tears. “I’ve seen you cry before,” he announced, which surprised me because I’ve cried many times in his presence. “When?” I asked thinking he would refer to that day on the couch when Mark and I told him Austin’s cancer was back.

“When we watched the video of that spaceship exploding on the computer,” he said instead, recalling a YouTube tape of the Challenger explosion. I don’t remember why we watched that together, maybe it was when the last shuttle took off and he wanted to know why it was such a big deal, but it obviously made an impression on him. Or maybe it was just my crying that left the impression.

He also announced that Pam cried when she read Charlotte’s Web. “Pam?” I asked, confused. He was talking about the mother of his friend, the one little boy from his preschool who happens to also be in his kindergarten class. Last Saturday, at the Kindergarten Popsicle Party, Braedan must have mentioned that we were reading Charlotte’s Web and this boy’s response must have been, “Oh, my mom cried when we read that.” Not “How about that rat eating all the leftover food at the Fair?” Or not even “I love that book! I wish I could spin a web.” No, simply that his mother had cried. Maybe the book plays such a significant role in the lives of children for that reason alone … because they get to witness grown-ups crying!

Anyway, we made it through, not without tears, and now he is asleep (I hope) and I am off to pack his lunch. The seasons pass, the circle of life continues, “the ice will melt in the pasture pond” and tomorrow morning, my first baby will head off to kindergarten.