Oscar and Mama's Excellent Adventure, Day 2, Part 2

This is gonna be quick. It's hard for me to write these posts without all the pictures I took.

After some life-changing pizza at the Trat, Oscar and I made our way to the Cupcake Corral. My friend Joe opened up his bakery a couple years ago and it was really a touchstone for our days in Maplewood/South Orange. I was so proud of Joe and his family, Felice and Big Hank, and looked forward to patronizing their fine establishment for years to come. Instead, I moved to Burbank and was thrilled to order cupcakes and coffee and buy tee shirts and get a big hug from Joe when we visited.

Local peeps: don't let this place go south. It's a gem. Also, try the cheddar scones, patronize the resale shop next door, and try to get on Joe's good side so you can hug him. He's a great guy, a great businessman, and a huge gigantic geek. Evan and I both regret that we couldn't spend more time together geeking out. When Joe posted that he wanted to hold Pokémon games at the Corral on Facebook, Oscar was basically dying. BIG HANK!!! POKEMON!!! CUPCAKES!!!

After sucking back some coffee, we made our way to Orchard Park. This was our favorite park. That's where we honed in on the playgroup; that's where I realized that we moved to this great town, but as working parents, we never took advantage of all the great things about our town. So I quit my job and bore a couple more kids and went to playgrounds every day.

We saw Ben and Michelle on the way in. Ben, who was in kindergarten with Oscar, was almost as tall as me, and submitted to a hug. Michelle and I basically dissolved. It's hard being away from your girlfriends.

After that, it was brutal. Oscar's best friend from Clinton School, Ty, ran up to him and was so happy to see Oscar that I just bawled. Then came his friends Zach and Jordan, Nathanial and Cal, Jed and Lila. Hank and Izzy and Lily. Kate and Sarah. Jared, Jordan and Jasmine. Zach brought a kid from Oscar's kindergarten class that went to private school after 1st grade -- I was hugging all the kids and he said, I don't know if you remember me -- and I said, JOSH! I totally remember you! and we had a big hug.

Oscar's oldest and best friend, Lucas, showed up with his dad, and it made me really mad that we weren't able to schedule some time for them on their own. Oscar and Lucas met on the morning of Lucas' 2nd birthday, when he and his mom Jennifer were out for a walk, and they ran into us, down the street, weeding our garden. Lucas and Oscar bonded over having moms who were art directors, younger siblings who were annoying, and went to preschool at Playhouse together. When preschool was over, even though we lived two blocks away from each other, Oscar and Lucas went to separate elementary schools. But Evan and I and Lucas' folks always made an effort to retain their friendship. It's been even more difficult since we moved. But we will try to keep up on the Skyping and the letters back and forth. It was hard when Oscar was surrounded by friends from his old school to pay attention to his oldest friend. But it's a dear relationship; we will do our best to continue it.

Maybe they'll end up in college together and start a tech company. I can only hope.

I can only touch briefly on all the hugs and all the emotional attachments I had with the parents who were there. One of them said, I looked up the hill, and I saw Amie, and it was just like life had gone back to a couple years ago when our lives were all about playdates and sandboxes and wooden trains.

Thank you. To every parent I hung out with in that stage of life, thank you. I miss you all so desperately -- but also I am happy to show off my smart, adaptable kid who was handled this move with aplomb. The bits of good parenting that I exhibit out here, at the grocery store when all three of my kids are losing it and touching everything and going facedown on the floor and scaring the locals -- when I can take a deep breath, distract them, and move along (and not punch all the people that make faces at us) -- thank you. Thank you for teaching me patience, and love, and that every poorly behaved kid is the apple of some mother's eye.

Oscar and I hopped in the rental car, consulted Maplewood Online, and made our way through Staten Island (we waved at Grandma Betsy and Sampi's alma mater, Wagner College). We made it to JFK with time to spare. We returned our rental car, checked our luggage, and shopped for MUJI stuff for Evan. We even saw the Challenger from the monorail, which was really exciting.

Out flight from JFK was uneventful and short. My Dad and brother picked us up at the Rochester airport and deposited us in a hotel room, where we both passed out.