Heartbreaker

Just like last year, Connor had a Valentine's Day party at his daycare today. He helped me get all his valentines ready for his classmates and teachers. He picked out a Disney theme this year. The box contained valentines with Toy Story, Monsters, Cars, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, and of course, The Incredibles. He did not want to give up any of The Incredibles. He was pretty adamant that he was going to keep them for himself. I was finally able to convince him to share them with three of his favorite kids - cousins Kenner and Lexi, and his friend Rita. He helped insert the valentines into baggies for each kid in his class, then added some Disney chocolate candy, lollipops, and mini M&M's. He was pretty excited to take the box full of goodies to school, knowing it would be done during the party. He made the executive decision to wear what he calls his "hunk of burn" shirt for the occasion.
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I actually debated whether or not to go to the party. I'm having to be pretty stringent with taking time off of work, needing to save as much as I can for my maternity leave. Aunt Tin went to his last party, and Dada went to the party before that. I had a meeting at work set for 1:00. I decided depending on when the meeting ended, I would go. But of course as fate would have it, the meeting lasted until 3:35. His party started at 3:00. I figured it was too late by that time, and justified that he probably didn't even notice that nobody had shown up. I stayed at work until my normal time, then headed out to pick him up. When I walked in his classroom, he came running up to me with a big grin on his face and gave me a big Connor love. I asked him to start gathering his stuff, then turned to his teacher to ask how the party went. She asked, "Were you planning on coming?" I told her I had intended to, but was tied up in a meeting. Let me point out I had not mentioned to Connor that I was planning on attending the party. Well, she said that throughout the party, Connor kept saying, "My mommy is on her way." And each time the door opened, he would run over to see if it was me walking through that door. It about broke my heart. Needless to say, I don't think I'll miss any of his class parties in the future.