At first I couldn’t help myself, but I felt a little uncomfortable when my son, who usually avoids spending time with my mom, suddenly asked to stay with her all summer – on his own.
That captured me completely. Sure, he grew up and took more responsibility, but it seemed to be blue. I was thinking: Were he really interested in helping my grandmother or something happening? I could never guess what was in the store for me when one day I got the unexpected phone call from my mom …
For the first time my son asked if he could spend the summer with my mom – everything alone. I was shocked, since he normally had little interest in visiting or spending time in her small town.
My mother is disabled and I pay for carers who help her daily. She has always refused to move in with us or consider devices for seniors. When my son offered to stay with her and even suggested to give the carer a break, I thought, maybe finally growing up.
The first week seemed to go smoothly. He was sweet whenever we talked over the phone, but whenever I asked me to talk to my mom, he would say he was asleep or too busy.
Then something alarming happened. I got a call from my son’s number – but it was my mother’s voice and urgently whispered, “Please come to save me from him!” before the call suddenly ended. I tried to call back but no one answered.
He panicked, jumped into the car and drove straight to my mom’s house, my heart pounded all the way. When I arrived, the front doors were slightly open. I opened it and called, “Mom? Jake?” Silence.
I went inside and found them both in the living room – surrounded by mountains of craft supplies, glue, scissors and piles of colored paper. My mom looked up and her face with a mixture of exhaustion, frustration and barely contained laughter.
Jake gave me a stir. “Grandma said she needed a rescue from my” extreme craft “projects. I thought we could run the etsy store together or something. “
My mom shook her head and laughed. “I just wanted to create a simple notebook, but your son turned it into some craft show!”
I felt a huge wave of relief and I couldn’t help but laugh. “So emergency calls were about creation, not a real crisis?”
“Exactly,” my mom sighed. “Although you may still have to save me – you have already bought four adhesive weapons!”
The rest of the summer was a little less intense on the craft front, but on what it really mattered was the bond they built. Their days were filled with creativity, laughter and love. And sometimes I would get another “urgent” call – usually about the explosion of shimmering, endless fabric samplers or some wild new crafting scheme.
In the end, what began as a simple summer visit turned into a beautiful and unexpected adventure full of creativity, laughter and strengthening the invaluable bond between my son and mother. While “extraordinary events” were not far from what I was afraid of, they became a reminder of the joyful chaos that came with the family and a little surprise that life casts our way. Although the craft solution could have been extremely extremely, the love and the connection they shared all this was useful. As for adhesive weapons? Several more will seem to be needed for next summer.