You start a new job and immediately it is hard to go back to it. A young son can do that to you. So too can crap jobs but that is not the point of this post (and besides it’s too early for that one).
The busy weekend started with his swimming lesson. He is getting good now. I am quite a good swimmer. Now. But when I was Dani’s age I was close to petrified of water. It is great to see him improving week by week.
There is what the British call an ‘Indian Summer’ in Madrid. Despite the unusually high temperatures all the outdoor pools are closed. End of season. By date, if not temperature. The end of summer means the start of swimming lessons and Dani is back in the indoor pool every Saturday morning. He is a happy, improving little swimmer and his dad is proud of him. (Did I just refer to myself in the third person?)
Queen
Sunday: Off to see a Queen tribute band in the Rialto Theatre in the city centre. What a great little theatre!
On the way Dani and I had a little conversation.
“I want to go and see Led Zeppelin dad.”
“Oh well we can go and see a Led Zep band soon. I will look into it.”
“But we only know one song”: He means ‘Rock and Roll’ the one he has heard on the radio many times.
“Well you do mate. But I know all of their songs.”
“All of them?”
“Yes. I have all their albums. We can listen to some more songs and then you will know them when we go and see Led Zeppelin in concert. But today we are going to see Queen”.
We sat in the theatre and the band came on stage. A five-piece tribute act. Spanish lads playing bass, guitar, drums and the frontman A keyboard player making it five; allowing “Freddie” to concentrate on the singing and prancing around stage.
The second song was one of the obvious ones. Bohemian Rhapsody. I thought Dani would be totally into it, but the band started the song part way through. Being a long track I understood this. But for one little boy -in the manner of Sheldon (Big Bang Theory) – it just did not compute. I think he expected it to be just like the records he has heard so much. While he wasn’t too keen on singing along, he watched intently. It was all well done and in between songs the singer spoke to the audience – as they do.
About half way through the concert Dani said, partly surprised; “Dad. Freddie Mercury speaks Spanish.”
“It’s not the real Freddie Mercury Dan. This is not the real Queen”
And the instant I had said it I thought ‘oh shit!’. His face changed. Puzzled expression. What had I done? I might as well tell him that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. Right now; and get that one over with! Oh, what an idiot!
I regretted it immediately. But that’s how things happen in the blink of an eye. Poor Dani. I don’t think it stopped him enjoying the rest of the show however. He joined in later.
Kent and Australia?
Later in the day Dani’s mum had to leave for the airport. Only a short business trip. To Sydney Australia no less. He knew she would be away until Friday but took it well I thought.
The biggest problem for me was that soon after I had to fly to the UK. This new job in Kent is only a week old but it is so hard leaving the little man. He would be staying with his grandmother but that didn’t make it any easier. I put him to bed and thought he was asleep. But I received a text message form his grandmother that he woke up ten minutes after I had gone and cried. He would be fine. I knew that. But it hurts when things like that happen. Such a great weekend but a tough end.
If it doesn’t get any easier how long will I last in this new job? Time – as always – will tell.