Matiu has been asking me constantly whether he can come with me to my office at the Uni of Toronto. Of course, I said he would be very welcome - although I wasn't sure when it would happen. At one point yesterday in Ottawa, during a quietly whispered brokering of bribery in which I attempted to keep Matiu's mind on the job of meeting his new relatives, I promised him he could choose something to do today which he wanted to do. On the train home, after he fell asleep, I relayed my promise to Megan, and we wondered whether he would have interpreted this as the chance to make a single request or a day in which he was the absolute prince, dictating his terms and activities for 24 hrs. Luckily, this morning when we followed up on the promise (Matiu never forgets such details!) he announced that his heart's desire was to "go to uni with Auntie Lala."
This was a relief (compared to trying to convince him the aforementioned moment of hissed bribery wasn't intended to secure him the right to ask for the entire universe to be handed to him on a platter today) but it was also a bit of a quandry, at least for me. This was the first day back, and people would be teaching or catching up on things before teaching later in the week! How much fun would he really have?
Also, I didn't really need to go into the office today anyway. However, in the light of the promise, I let him know that I was happy to go into the office to pick up some things and estimated it would take about 5 minutes. His little face fell, until I quickly ammended my estimate to 'at least half an hour.' Bizarrely but truly, he brightened up and looked forward to the trip all morning.
We went to Bloor St for lunch, something Matiu wasn't very impressed by - "I thought we were going to your office?" - and then had to run a few errands before heading home - "I thought we were going to your office?" - and finally we set off in the direction of Aboriginal Studies. Megan walked with us, planning to go to the U of T bookstore, and Matiu was a bit put out that she was going to accompany us until we assured him that she was bound for alternative (and quietly, in our view, funner) pastures.
We got to Aboriginal Studies and sure enough it was very quiet. Matiu, however, loved it!
He parked up on the table in the office I share with Daniel, tirelessly and enthusiastically drawing pictures, chattering or singing away to himself at times. I kept checking that he was okay and he kept assuring me that he was, and we ended up spending over an hour in there, me sorting through papers and catching up on a couple of emails, and him drawing.
On the way home, he skipped along, claiming he'd had a fantastic time. We went via the library where I had some books to return, and then we walked home talking about my job. "You've got the best job, Aunty Lala," he claimed... I agreed with him, and we talked about why. "What do you think I do?" I asked, and he rattled off a list of things that were actually as good a job description as I've ever heard.
Why does Matiu love being at work with me? Who knows. But as we walked, and while I've been at home this evening, I've taken the time to acknowledge that what I do is indeed 'fun' (even though sometimes the 'admin' side of things feels like the noisiest bit, it's really only the support act to the research/teaching main events)... and that sometimes it takes a 6 year old to claim that the emperor has no clothes or, in this case, that my job is indeed a privilege and source of joy.
Another gift of te tau okioki: time to spend with my beloved nephew... travelling together, 'working' alongside each other, and having the space in my head and time in my schedule to walk home from the library holding hands and talk about such things.
No comments:
Post a Comment