Who is your best friend, Emmanu?

 With Nikhil and Daniel off at summer camp, Emmanu and I had the perfect opportunity for some quality bonding time over a long weekend. We kicked off our morning by attempting to make pancakes together. This quickly turned into a kitchen disaster when Emmanu decided to turn on the blender before I could close it, resulting in a pancake lava explosion all over the kitchen.

After cleaning up our pancake apocalypse, we got ready and headed to an indoor children’s playground. Emmanu burned off some of his infinite energy climbing and running through the mazes like a tiny, unstoppable tornado.

Next, we had lunch at his favorite spot, Chipotle. As usual, he showed no signs of needing an afternoon nap—because who needs sleep when you’re a dynamite with boundless energy reserve? Back at home, we conducted a quick and easy kitchen science experiment, mixing vinegar, baking soda, and dishwashing liquid to create mini-volcano explosions. .After his evening bath in his red bucket jacuzzi and a rice and egg dinner, we watched some Blippi and then headed to bed to read books. We re-read his favorite ‘Fred and Ted’ books and decorated the ‘Gingerbread Man’ book with emoji stickers. As we started to wind down, he lay on my shoulder while I turned off the light.

Then, after a brief pause, he said, “Amma, you are my best friend!” My heart melted. Emmanu had never said that to me before. Unlike Daniel, Emmanu isn’t big on verbal or physical expressions of love. He neither expects it from us nor spontaneously expresses it.

As my heart was exploding with happiness, my brain told me to freeze this moment forever by capturing it on video. Normally, my laziness peaks at bedtime, and it would take an earthquake to get me out of my warm, cozy spot under the blankets. Slowly with reluctance, I pushed myself out of bed to grab my phone. I returned to my sweet spot, turned on the video, and posed the million-dollar question again, “Emmanu, who is your best friend?” I asked at least ten times before giving up. Each time, he gave me a different answer: Danichan, nobody, somebody, Jacob, Chechi, Bunny, Lucy, Garcy, Daddy, and finally, “I am sleepy.”

 Needless to say, “Amma” didn’t make the cut.

  While Amma didn’t make it to the list of best friends on video, I know in the world of pancake explosions and mini-volcanoes, I will always be his number one partner in all life adventures.