The Klailklop Glass, or a Love Letter to Klailklop

Recently I have been thinking about Klailklop's water glass. 

To understand the significance of this glass, we have to go back to Singularity as a toddler and preschooler. I've probably mentioned before on my blog that Singularity's development has followed an atypical schedule. He learned to talk at the age of 14 months, to walk at 16 months, and to read at the age of 18 months. Seriously, you could almost see him making a conscious decision that talking was going to be more important to him than walking. And the reading at 18 months? A definite case of hyperlexia. We played with letters in the bathtub, changing a consonant or a vowel, making up new words, playing "make it say". 

(Oh, it was so much easier to take care of the hair then!)

Singularity even developed a peculiar gait, due to the fact that he always had a book tucked under his right arm. I will probably write another post on hyperlexia sometime in the future, but for now suffice it to say that Singularity was highly motivated by letters, words, and reading. And, beside books, what kind of a gift do you give a child like this? A label maker of course! 

Singularity was three years old at the time. It is easy to pinpoint this in time, as that is the age at which he named us Kija (me) and Klailklop (his father). He had a name for himself, which feels too precious to share. 

Singularity's little hands weren't strong enough to operate the label maker, so Klailklop and I had to make the labels for him. Round two of "make it say"! For a while many things around our house wore labels, including Klailklop's drinking glass. 

And that label stayed on Klailklop's drinking glass for years after Singularity no longer called his father Klailklop. Klailklop kept that label on his glass through the six months from October 2012 to March 2013, a time during which Singularity would not speak to himat all. The label  stayed on the glass as Singularity and Klailklop slowly rebuilt their father-son relationship, and it is still there. 

I have come to see that glass as a symbol of Klailklop's hopes for his relationship with his son and as a vessel for his love for Singularity. Klailklop felt rejected and pessimistic about our family situation for some of those years, and yet he carefully washed the glass and ensured that the label remained intact. The Klailklop glass seems to have served its purpose, and now he can pour his love back into his son. However, I hope that he never decides to get rid of it, because it is now also a symbol for the parts of Klailklop that I love the best.