Waving Goodbye

When you hit a certain age, you don't want your mom to walk you to the bus stop and wave goodbye once you board. It's embarassing.

Do parents ever tire of their kids waving goodbye, or rushing to greet themwhen they return?

This morning at the train station, there was a woman sitting in the driver seat of a minivan that was idling on the close edge of the parking lot. She had two kids in her lap. They were waving wildly out of the open window, calling, "Bye, Daddy! Bye Daddy! Bye bye!"

At first, I couldn't tell who they were waving to, but then I noticed a man a few feet away from me, waving inconscipuously at the minivan. The kids persisted: "Bye Daddy!" He seemed embarassed. His kids were breaking the otherwise quiet wait.

Finally, he must have decided there was no stopping them, and he turned toward the parking lot and raised his hand high to wave and shout back, "Bye! Have a good day!" Then he turned away again and pretended to look for something in his bag.

As the train approached, he again turned back toward his family and shouted, "Look -- here comes the train!"

The kids stopped shouting their farewells and watched the train approach with open mouths. Then the little girl waved at the train as it pulled to a stop, while the mom whispered something to the little boy and he pointed toward the platform.

The whole scene was endearing and made me want kids I could wave goodbye to, kids who were fascinated by the train that only angers and exhausts me.