growing pains

my baby is crying downstairs. he's teething. there is nothing i can do now. i took him to the pool, visited his very nice babyfriend, let him play with a pit bull and walked him around el cid on a sling. in all my efforts to tire him up so that i can get some restful, if not uninterrupted sleep, i have exhausted myself into a smoky oblivion. this is how i roll.

the scene at the pool today was straight out of raising victor vargas. a dozen latin youths played a game of "el bobo" in while some random adult "cousins" started brought the beer and the boombox. latinos always have primos, and in their abscence there is always a tio or two.

sticking out like a sore thumb was my childhood friend F, in a very revealing suit flaunting her post baby body.our kids clung to her, their eyes' like shooting stars darting side to side bewildered by the immigrant accents, the spanglish sounds, the splashing water and the smell of chlorine. V and A, two plump little sponges, that i was happy to watch from under the shade. My good friend F, a better man that i, stuck with the rugrats in the (sess)pool.

these fuckers are exhausting. kids. we spend our day trying to entertain them and in the process end up feeling like a hot mess. but you're kinda in haze the whole time because you love them. i remember the duchess and her headaches. as a matter of fact, when i was little all the adults had headaches. half the time i though they were faking. i thought "surely no one can live in such pain".

i have them now, although i try to power through them without help. they sneak in one me anyway. they start with my jaw locking usually preceded by some thought of next's years uniforms and tomorrows baby food preparation. then then they hit the cheek muscles and it's all downhill from there. that pain behind my right eye. ouch. its a growing pain. or rather a growing up pain.