I am on the Aer Lingus flight at the moment, returning home from my business trip to Dublin. Ever since I left Boston last Saturday night, I’ve been meaning to write this post.
Mother’s Day was at the end of last week, on Sunday, May 11, but we had to celebrate it a day earlier due to my travel to Ireland. We had a nice lunch at a sushi place in Newton that we like and on the way home stopped at Whole Foods to buy groceries. I believe that was the very first time, ever, that we went grocery shopping with both Alexander and Nastia. Alexander likes sitting on top of the shopping cart, but this time we had to use that space for Nastia’s car seat. Sankin started getting upset, trying to tell me something. At first I attempted to just ignore that and proceeded into the store, but he persisted, and eventually we realized that he just wants to be in the cart itself.
Sitting in the cart must not have been terribly comfortable, especially as we added more and more groceries in there. We have not even left the fruit and vegetable section of the store when Sankin decided to stand in the cart. That made it easier for him to look around, to play hide-and-seek with me, hiding behind the car seat with sleeping Nastia inside, and to reach and grab various items for closer inspection. He seemed fascinated with a baby pineapple (I’ve never seen one of these before either) and a few exotic fruits. As we slowly moved through the store, trying to find a quieter spot to park our difficult to maneuver cart, he leaned forward, with his upper body partially hanging over the cart, looking around, pointing at things, and trying to name items the words for which he knew. In the meat section, for example, there was a wooden stand with colorful and scented artisan soaps. He pointed at each and every bar and proudly said “мыло”. Lena was walking around in various parts of the store, occasionally finding us and offloading items that she has gathered so far into the cart. The store was quite busy, and everyone passing our cart had to perform a bit of navigating just to get through. People could not help but smile when they saw Sankin standing inside the cart, leaning over, and actively exploring his surroundings.
And one woman asked me: Is he the Captain of your ship? I think I must have paused for a second before I answered, because her question really struck me. That question explains what having children means. They become the focus, the meaning of your life. They redefine what is important, they change direction. Sankin and Nastia, they are the Captains of my, of our ship. At that moment I knew I would be writing this post and I knew exactly what its title would be. I thought about this on the plane to Dublin and every single day while in Dublin. I cut my trip short, I will see my crew soon.