perfect day with my son (lyn)

So today is the day we didn’t have on Friday. 

After yesterday’s weight scare, Alexander wants to eat cautiously.  Breakfast for the two of us is eggs (him two, me one), bagels (his real, mine the 100-calorie mini), lox, and cream cheese (his plain and manufactured, mine with scallions and homemade by Agata).

We watch another half-episode of Homeland and are on the subway heading to Soho by 11:30, early for Alexander.  He tries to negotiate the number of stores we should visit and he concludes that three is a good number. Shopping with Alexander is not a gee-that'll-be-fun activity; it is more, I-want-more-shirts-so-this-is what-I-have -to-do-to-get-them-because-my mom-won’t shop-without-me-and-return-the-ones-I-don’t-want-later. 

Our first stop is a big warehouse sale for All Saints.  We walk in and there are two big floors with racks and racks of coats, pants, shirts and sweaters marked 70% off.  There are also half-hung clothes everywhere, hordes of pushy people, no dressing rooms, and just a couple of mirrors.  Within five minutes, Alexander announces, “I don’t see anything here, let’s go to J. Crew.”  This is not a shopping environment for a novice.

At J. Crew, Alexander tries on a handful of things, and settles on a gorgeous, size small green V-Neck cashmere sweater.  We discover a well-kept secret:  if your child is in college, just mention it at check-out, show a college ID, and get 15% off everything you buy.  This must be a new concept in marketing: offer a great promotion but don’t tell anyone about it.

We next go to Uniqlo (not civil enough), Bloomingdales for Calvin Klein T-shirts (they are out), and a trendy boutique (the colors of the sweaters on sale are too similar to what Alexander already has).  By now, we’ve exceeded the number of stores Alexander has agreed to shop in by two so we head home.  On the way to the subway we pass a gourmet cupcake vendor.  I ask Alexander if he wants one.  He passes; it’s amazing how much discipline he has when he’s trying.

We get home and I make some squash-apple soup and have that for dinner with a salad and grilled chicken.  Alexander skips the soup, has a gigantic piece of grilled chicken, and about a pound of steamed broccoli.  We watch the end of a playoff football game, and the last two episodes of Homeland. 

Alexander has a sharp sense of humor, is quick-witted, and a master of accents.  Many times tonight I crack up laughing.  In two days he returns to school.  I will miss him all over again.