Lunch with Rakes

Eating lunch at school with Rakes is a little like Christmas morning when you were a kid; it's always fun, there's usually a lot of commotion going on, and you never know what you're going to get.

Today he was, for him, out of character. Quiet, reserved, and actually eating instead of talking. I figured part of it was the 2 little girls from 4th grade eating with one of their Dad's, so I waited until they left to try and find out what was up.

Me: "Rakes, you OK?"

Rakes: "Yeah, Dad."

Me: "You're being awfully quiet today."

Rakes: "I told my brain on the way to school that we were going to be quiet and listen all day".

Me: "........"

Rakes: "It's working pretty good, Dad."

Me: "Well, could you ask him if it's OK to talk to me during lunch and THEN go back to being quiet?"

Rakes: "I'll tell him that's what we'll do, Dad."

From that moment forward it was on like Donkey Kong; he told me about everything he'd done that day, asked me if I liked the Carolina Hurricanes (he apparently now likes hockey), and asked me to give him a hug BEFORE I took him back to his class lunch table so, and I quote, "I don't want to embarrass you by hugging you in front of them".

It's hard not to love a little boy wearing a WWE hoodie with his face and hands covered in Doritos sauce who thinks so much of you.