Well Done

Last night, while ordering dinner at The Counter, Trevor H (from various photo credits on this blog) asked Cody how he wanted his burger cooked.  Trevor did so with the delicacy of an experienced server, realizing that an 11 year old child may not be overly familiar with terms like "medium rare" and "well done" so he phrased the request in terms of how much pink (some, only a little bit, or none).  Cody requested none, aka "well done" without knowing what the phrase means when it comes to cooking beef.

Cody's post dinner shotgun snooze

The photo above sort of sums up the best parts of my virtual parenting experience as experienced through this BBBS.org relationship.  As Cody and I have now known each other for a year, he's grown comfortable enough with me to fall asleep while I drive.  And I, in return, have grown comfortable enough to fall asleep on the beach while he plays in the sand and dabbles in the surf.

I have only a few experiences with a child falling asleep in my arms, but they are precious.  I can't even begin to imagine what that experience is like when the child is yours, how the connection differs when a genetic bond of parenthood is involved.  I've had a few good naps with Hunter, sharing space, but it's not quite the same because dogs trust blindly and sleep effortlessly.  Children, on the other hand, can be a bit less predictable.

When I first started off on this path, I thought the payoff from my efforts as a big brother would be laughs, smiles, thank you's, or light bulb moments.  There have been a few of those, but I wouldn't say they impacted me in any significant manner yet.  Unexpectedly, the few times Cody has fallen asleep while I drive him home have been the most rewarding pieces of our interaction.  I get the sense of a job well done.  I took care of his needs and his wants and gave him an experience that left him so satisfied that he can retreat from the land of consciousness.

FTR, this photo was taken at a stoplight, although I'm sure it's probably against some law to even touch a cell phone in a car these days...