Walnut crunched Honey Bumbles for breakfast. "Ready to make tracks?" Mom asked. "I want to stay home," Walnut groaned. "Don't you miss me all day?" "Only like crazy," Mom grinned, snitching a Bumble crumb. "I wish I could fold you up and pack you in my briefcase." Walnut slipped into a side pocket and hid. "I would pop out and scare you. … BOO!" Walnut shouted, springing from the pocket. Mom snatched Walnut, twitching trail and all. "Gotcha!" she laughed. "Captured in my pencil cup." "I'd escape on my paper clip ladder," whispered Walnut, weaving through the forest of pen and pencil trees and hiding in the tangle of cords. "But I would sniff you out and make you my mouse, " said Mom. "We'd scroll around the world, me and my laptop pilot." Walnut clicked on "Adventure" and donned a crown of gold and a long, velvet robe. "I would be ruler of the jungle and we'd swing with monkeys," Walnut declared. "Then we would sail the seven seas and make friends with a whale," imagined Mom. "She would take us for a ride on her spout." "To the beach!' Walnut shouted. "By then I would need something to eat!" '"I would buy us lunch at The Nut Hut," Mom planned. "You would be the toy that comes with my meal. Then I would wear my Walnut Shell necklace back to work." "You'd have to go back?" Walnut asked. "Yes," Mom said. "There are things I would need to do. People depend on me." "For what?" Walnut wondered. "I'll show you sometime--on 'Bring Your Child to Work Day,'" Mom promised. "But for now, I proclaim each day at 5:00 is Walnut Time." Walnut smiled--5:00 would rock! "But how come you have to work at all?" asked Walnut. "Well," Mom explained, "I go to work so I can pay rent on our den and buy you Nutty Clusters and Super Squirrel socks. And I'm good at what I do. Just like you are good at kickball and drawing." Walnut considers this . . . . "But the best part of each day is coming home to you," added Mom. "I wish it was 5:00 now," Walnut frowned. "Can we snuggle?" Mom looked at her watch and then relaxed, lifting Walnut into her lap. "You bet--I love having you close." Walnut curled into a ball of fur. "I wish we could really stay together today. What if you get lonely without me?" Walnut worries. "But I am never really without you," Mom said. "You're on my computer . . ." [screensaver with Walnut's face on it) "In my briefcase . . ." [picture in briefcase] "At my desk . . ." [Walnut's framed artwork on her desk; homemade pencil cup] "Around my neck and on my mind . . ." [mother wears a locket with Walnut's picture] "Everyone at work knows you are my top priority . . ." [illusration shows mother talking to coworkers w/icture of Walnut in Halloween costume] "Mama, I miss you like crazy, too," Walnut said, whisker to whisker with Mom. "Can I have a little piece of you to keep with me all day?" "I think we can manage that," Mom smiled. [last page should show Walnut at day care with laminated picture of Mom on backpack, note from Mom near coat hook, a necklace with mom's picture on it] Excerpted from Miss You Like Crazy by Pamela Hall All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
