Mr. Clingy

Little feet tip-toed into our room early Sunday morning. "Has daddy gone to work?" Daniel pseudo-whispered at my side.
"No baby, he's right here."
"Are we staying home today?" Hope filled his little voice.
"I'm right here, son, and we're going to hang out all day." At the sound of dad's voice, Daniel scrambled in between us and snuggled down into the covers.
It's like that some mornings, soft and sweet and easy. Then mornings like today, Daniel doesn't want to get up, is sad dad's already gone to work, and doesn't want me to leave him at school.
"I'm still sleepy, momma."
"My tummy hurts."
"I don't want to go to school, I want to be sick."
He learned that if he's sick, he gets to hang out with mom and dad all day. And while I so appreciate this time when he actually wants to be with us, school and work are non-negotiable, and that's a hard lesson to learn when you're four.
So I spend a little extra time with him in the classroom and dad reads a couple of extra stories at night, and we all do the best we can to reassure the boy.
--Misty