A Day of Firsts

There are many firsts in the life of a child that parents will mark down in their child's baby book.  The first smile, their first giggle, their first tooth, the first time they roll over.

As they get older and the baby books are left dusty and half forgotten on a high shelf in a closet, other firsts begin.

Firsts that we may not mark down but which stay with us, tucked in close to our hearts and minds.

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Lunch time began with plates of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, wedges of apple slices and cups of milk.  It was quiet as my boys munched away at the kitchen table on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

My husband's phone rang.  He answered it with his usual gregarious greeting of our neighbour's last name.

Except it wasn't the neighbour he thought it was.  Instead the voice was much higher and little boy like.  The voice of another 4 year old.

"Can Adrian come out a play?"

As I stood beside my husband at the kitchen counter cleaning up the dishes I heard the voice too.  We looked at each other and smiled.

Our son's first phone call.

He told Jonathan that Adrian would be out to play after lunch then hung up the phone and declared this to be a monumental moment in our eldest son's life.

He pointed to the calendar and announced that we needed to mark this day down!  Our son's first phone call!  I had no idea my husband could get so sentimental about a moment such as this, but here goes...

May 26, 2012 - Adrian's first phone call from his buddy Jonathan.

Later that early evening as an impromptu neighbourhood party somehow landed at our home, I stood in the same spot preparing a dinner feast for all.  A miniature dance party was happening in our basement.  Unbeknownst to me my son who received his first phone call from his friend earlier in the day was now having his first dance with the sister of his buddy Jonathan.  A beautiful five year old girl was showing my son the proper way to hold a female when dancing.

It was his first dance with a girl other than his Mumma.  And I missed it.

The first phone call, a first dance...these are glimpses into the window of the future to come.

Soon it will be the first call from a girl...

...his first dance as a married man.

Now that dance?  I wouldn't miss for all the money in the world.

He'd just better be sure to save a dance for his ol' Ma.