The Q-View

With the end of the semester at Montco, I had my last Dom Day of the year. It was hectic!

Before we had even left the parking lot, Dom made it clear from his car seat that he wanted to go to “his house” and see his “mama”.

I broke the news that she was coming to dinner at our house and would meet us there! He still wanted to go home. He doesn’t like Leo, the Goldendoodle, “sniffing” him.

But Dom settled in and started using two new Matchbox trucks in a scenario he was concocting in the car seat. Dom was very talkative.

We came upon two police cars with flashing lights at the site of a fender bender.

“Did the cars hit?” Dom asked.

“Yes, look at that,” I said, pointing out the crumpled front end of one of the cars.

Then Dom wanted to know where we were.

“Harleysville,” I said.

He asked three more times before we had managed to get out of Harleysville. That must have bored him because sudden silence told me that he had fallen asleep. So, instead of driving directly home, I drove around randomly for an hour so Dom could nap in the air-conditioned comfort of the Pilot. The other recommended scenario was to just go home and let him sleep in the car in the driveway, but it was way too hot for that.

When Dom came to, we stopped at Rita’s for some water ice. I wasn’t sure what Dom was telling me he wanted until I saw Swedish Fish on the menu. Then, he opted for another entree anyway. A 4 Ice Delight, four different flavors in a sectioned tray. And a soft pretzel. I had a small, rootbeer water ice.

Two former students and the mother of a former student were working the counter. I caught up a little bit.

We sat at a table in front of Rita’s. We were in a race against the heat and sun, and we were losing as Dom systematically sampled each compartment, mixed them together, and tried to drink the melted selections, added my root boor to each compartment.

I was starting to get concerned about sunburn. After 45 hints, Dom finally consented to leave.

As we pulled out of the parking lot, Dom spotted McDonald’s across the street and threw a brief, fake tantrum when I said we were not going there.

I suggested we stop at a playground on the way home, and he was excited about that, until I tried to put sunscreen on him. The sunscreen spurred a debate about whether the sun was good or bad. Dom pointed to the portrayal of the sun on the spray can. It was some sort of impressionistic, threatening-looking depiction of the sun. He decided the sun was bad. I thought we were good to go when I got one leg sprayed, but that only led to panic, refusal, and debate for several more minutes. No go.

We headed to the house.

Leo, per usual, did his berserk barking thing as we got out of the car. The poor doggy doesn’t know what to make of Dom. Later Leo grabbed one of Dom’s toys off the table, prompting hysterical screams. Leo spent some time in jail upstairs and was good after that.

Dom amused himself by dumping a jar of pennies on the floor and laying in them, reminding me to take the damn things to a coin machine!

Terry cooked salmon and chicken on the grill. Mama arrived. Dom found his birthday present “hidden” in a closet. A large green alligator pool toy. I didn’t even know it was there! He was convinced that the alligator should stay with us for awhile.

Mama and Dom headed back to Manayunk. I cleaned up pennies. Leo found a place on the rug to finally rest easy.

It was a good day!