1) He lies in wait until we come home, and then pops out of his apartment to see Reilly. This bothers me because when I come home—with Reilly under one arm and the rest of me laden down like a pack mule—I just want to get up the four flights of stairs without interruption.
2) When I do the obligatory stop for the Old Monk, he is always rough with Reilly, pushing heavily on her cheek or pulling on her limbs. I submit the following evidence of his roughness: Reilly, who loves everyone who crosses her path, is always tentative and afraid when the Old Monk is around her.
On Sunday, the Overcast Family returned home from a nice morning out at the playground, and as we came through the second door downstairs, the Old Monk emerged from his apartment. After submitting Reilly to the monk’s endearment, Shawn fled up the stairs while I put the stroller away. Much to my annoyance, the Monk followed me. With my eyes rolled so far back in my head, it was a wonder I could see anything, but it was at that moment that the Old monk reached into a bag and pulled out a brand new Hess toy fire truck. He gave it to me.
I called out to Shawn, who had already made it up the first flight of stairs, to come back down with Reilly. “The Old Monk has a gift for her,” I said.
Shawn looked as sheepish as I felt. To thank him, she reached out and touched his hand, a universal thank you, since we don’t share each other’s languages. And when she touched his hand, he very gently gave it a squeeze.
Reilly missed all these sensitivities, but didn’t overlook the truck. She got down to playing with it as soon as we made it upstairs:
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