Balloon Death

Jackson’s turning two next month. He loves balloons. We get him a balloon every now and again and he goes nuts for it. The balloon even hangs around for days after its lost most of its helium and is just a wrinkled up pathetic version of its former self. Eventually we just put it out of its misery in the dead of night whilst he sleeps unawares. He has no problem letting a balloon die in this fashion. But one week it all went wrong. He got a balloon at the mall which wasn’t tied on correctly and as soon as we stepped outside the wind took it. He watched it float away, it was a sad moment for him but he handled it like a champ. A few days later we were at the grocery store and got him another balloon. Things were right again and a balance had been restored to his universe. It was obvious this balloon wasn’t of the same quality as the ones they give away at the mall, but we weren’t expecting it to just explode in the car on the way home. That was his first balloon death and it scared him, but also it was sad because he lost another balloon. So that afternoon his mom takes him back to the mall to get some of the good stuff. The kids shoe section of Nordstrom, that’s where we score the baby crack. He gets his balloon, we make it to the car without losing it, things are back on track. But then on the way home his mom plays the open and close the window game with him. Ooops. Strike three. In the weeks since the last thing he’ll say as he passes out in my arms whilst I rock him to sleep at night, or the first words out of his mouth when I enter his room in the morning, “‘noon sky go bye bye”. The poor kid’s traumatized. Losing three balloons in a single week was obviously too much. He’ll be alright, he’s a trooper. But it’s got my thinking. Is that the first step of growing up? The first bite of the fruit from the tree of knowledge? I’ve put together the following:

1. Balloon death
2. Pet death
3. Death of a family member
4. Santa isn’t real
5. Our own death is inevitable
6. Our parents don’t know what the fuck they’re doing
7. The world is secretly run by a bunch of truly evil mother fuckers

Seems to me that most people aren’t able to accept that last step.

I’ve decided to buy him this book that I remember being a favorite of my younger brother growing up. Or maybe this one.