Not everything from lockdown was heavy. These are two moments I’d almost forgotten about until I went back through the diary. Both involve Isaac. Both involve questionable decisions on my part.
Week four, a Saturday night. We’d been ducking invites to a video call the DJ crowd had been running since the whole thing started. We finally caved, installed the app, and settled in.
A couple of hours flew by. As did a couple of bottles of wine.
Somehow, hair came up. I’d joked a few days earlier that this was one of the only times in your life you could shave your head with minimal consequences. Well. Next thing I knew, Steph had gone to find the clippers.
There I was. Drunk. Steph armed. A screen full of people waiting to see if I’d back out.
I didn’t. Nor did she.
After twenty minutes of what I can only describe as a patchy result, I took myself to the bathroom with the razor to finish the job properly. The end result was a stark reminder that alcohol and cosmetic decisions are not a good combination. Isaac’s reaction the next morning… poor thing. Seven years old, first thing in the morning, his dad looking like a completely different person.
We had a good giggle about it afterward. Eventually.
The second one came a few weeks later.
Isaac is superhero-obsessed. Always has been. Avengers Lego, Avengers YouTube, Avengers everything. He’d seen Captain America with his Thad-cu, so when he asked to watch Avengers… I figured, I’m right here, what’s the harm.
Things went well. The team assembled, bickered, assembled again. Then Coulson pulled a gun on Loki. And Loki stabbed him.
Isaac went quiet.
A few minutes later: “There’s too much blood. I want to play Minecraft.”
And I realised I’d completely missed it. He loves play fighting and Nerf guns and Minecraft. But I hadn’t stopped to think that he’d never seen a good guy actually fail. Actually die. He wasn’t ready for that moment. Not at seven.
We talked about it afterward. It was fine. But it’s in the record for honesty’s sake.
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Peace
G