A scene from the morning commute

It was one of those longer stoplights, and the car to my right provided a little snapshot of life with a small child.

A standard issue four door sedan that was, for once, not the usual black or gray but a rather pretty shade of cobalt blue. In the backseat, perched directly in the center was a car seat providing the occupant with an unobstructed view through the windshield. In the car seat was a boy who looked to be pretty close to four years old. His brown hair was perfectly combed over with a side part and smoothed down on his head.

He had that Ready for Preschool look.

And he was AWAKE!

In the perhaps minute of time that our cars were stopped side by side, I don’t think he paused once for a breath during a very animated tale he was telling.

He gestured!

He wagged and bobbed his head!

He leaned forward and was clearly wiggling his legs as his entire upper body shook with the excitement of this story he was telling.

I mean, it was DRAMATIC!

But, it was also a happy tale because he was clearly enjoying the act of reliving this event as he smiled a lot and his eyes were bright and happy.

Then my eyes drifted to the front seat.

Dad was taking the boy to school on his way in to work this morning. He had on a shirt and tie, but no coat and his hair was also perfectly coifed, though showing a few wet ends near his shirt collar.

Dad was not quite as bright eyed and bushy tailed as the boy.

Dad seemed to be wondering what in the hell was in that bowl of cereal his kid gulped down.

He had one elbow up on the door and was leaning into his arm with that look of someone who didn’t get a decent night’s sleep. He showed not one single ounce of facial expression or reaction to all the chattering wafting up from behind him.

Except that even through the doors of the cars and the space between us, I could FEEL his single, plaintive thought:

“Are we there yet?!”