Weekend Journal

I returned to my folks’ backyard just in time to stop Ian from Fred Flintstoning a little red car down the hill of the driveway with my four year old niece hanging onto the roof in a Dukes Hazzard move. They were prepared to sail down the driveway into the pile of junk in the garage. Both had huge grins on their faces.

When Ian decides to go outside, either Steve or I have to tail him. Other six year olds can have a longer leash, but Ian is quite ready for that yet. We’ve got to make sure that Ian doesn’t get in the way of the bigger kids, that they don’t tease him, or that he doesn’t decide to toss all the furniture out of the neighbor’s tree house, so that he’ll have more room for an excellent dance. He has to be reminded to not pick his nose or pull his pants down en route to the bathroom. He may not hear a car.

Jonah can go off on his own, but I still need to check on him every twenty minutes or so. There are shifting alliances among the neighborhood urchins, and he needs to be guided to towards neutrality. Our porch has been designated Switzerland. But without strong whispers in his ear, Jonah could join the savages in a game to get Piggy.

Both kids need to be cut off from TV and video games after a suitable time.

Although Ian’s speech and language took off this summer, he has gotten way more sensitive to smells,  tastes, and texture. Mealtime is much more of a chore. Eggs have been taken off the list of acceptable foods. Jonah, always a disgusting eater, grosses out Ian so much that we have put a cereal box in between them to shield Ian from the horror that is Jonah. Otherwise, Ian will puke.

Ian has suddenly rejected all pants, except two pairs of shorts and a pair sweatpants. I’m not exactly sure if he’ll wear sneakers for school on Wednesday. Today, he wore a lemon yellow t-shirt, maroon sweats, and red Crocs.

I finally found the town track this weekend. It was hiding behind the high school down a driveway with all sorts of "Don’t Go This Way" signs. I did a few laps and remembered how much better is it to run outside, rather than on a tread mill. I thought about getting my knees fixed and trying a race. It would be nice to have hobbies again and not just careen between work and the kids. Maybe next year.