Ghost Bob

Connor has a friend at school. We'll call him, Bob*. Connor talks about Bob all the time. They play fire-ghosts together on the playground. They see each other in music and in gym. Bob is Connor's best friend. If you just say Bob's name to Connor, his little face will light up and then he'll tell you matter of factly that Bob is his best friend. Jorma and I have a running joke that we'll go to the school and ask about Bob and get the response," There WAS a Bob here... years ago... but he passed away in a tragic accident".

So, when Connor had a birthday party last month, I invited Bob. Since I've never met Bob, but saw his name on the hook across the hall from Connor's room I dropped an invitation to the party in his tote. (The kids all keep a tote or bookbag on a hook with their name at this preschool). I thought this was a genius plan, to meet Bob and his Mommy, but Bob couldn't come to the party because he's in school five days a week and Connor's party was on a Friday. So, I waited outside Connor's class one day until I saw Bob's Mom, ( I know it sounds a little bit like stalking here, but you should see Connor's face glow when he talks about Bob), and went over to introduce myself.

She said that she had called and left a message about the party, but I never received it. She called again to leave her number and suggested that we get the kids together one day. I jumped on the opportunity. Although Tristan naps from 2-4 I was willing to rearrange the nap schedule for a day so that Connor could go to the park with his best friend. But it was raining that day.
When Bob's Mom called on playdate day to see if we wanted to come over, the words were barely out of her mouth before I agreed. No way was I going to miss this opportunity.

I had the kids snacked and dressed in clean clothes. I brushed their hair and wiped their faces. I really wanted my kids to make a good impression... you know, like, they'll set your house on fire, but aren't they cute in their sweaters?

We got to the house and an adorable little boy opened the door. We went in and I watched Connor waiting for the joy to register on his face. But he simply looked at me and said, "Mommy. That's not Bob"
That's right. Not Bob. Because Mommy that knows everything... didn't know to check to make sure there wasn't another Bob at the school. (In my defense I would like to add here that the real name of the child isn't as common as Bob, in fact, I'm surprised there is another with the same name at the school. It's a rather nice name for a little boy... it's just not that common). But I digress.

Bob's mommy, a gracious host, invited us in, laughed it off and then had the boys go and play. For me it was pretty embarrassing and Connor and Bob didn't really play much together. In fact they only started playing together a few minutes before it was time for us to go but neither wanted to stop playing. I liked Bob's mom , so maybe it wasn't a bad thing all together. Maybe Connor will just have two friends named Bob.

* Name has been changed to protect a child that I just met and a child that I've never met, that may or may not be a ghost.