One of my favorite forms of procrastination is cleaning. I don�t just mean a little dusting and vacuuming, but massive excavations of ancient history piled in the back of the storage area off my office. I know this is a diversion tactic and that I really should probably spend the time actually working on the dissertation, but I have to say that after hauling 8 boxes of old clothes and toys to the shelter and another two bags of books to our local library, it is a pleasure to come into my office. Clearing the clutter has cleared my head. I got a huge amount written while AJ was at school this morning, so that I wasn�t agonizing every second while his friend N. was over after school.

Well, maybe just a little agonizing. But that was mostly on AJ�s behalf. After school is often the only time he can get together with his friend N., but he is usually so tired that he just can�t roll with the punches. Every minor disagreement (And, who are we kidding, there are many. They�re four.) is a catastrophe apparently demanding copious tears. AJ spent most of the first half an hour in his room while we chatted with N. about his Christmas presents. When AJ finally calmed down, the two of them were off and running, overturning baskets of toys, dismantling the sofa into a fortress, complete with a set of plastic golf clubs as �weapons� (the nature of said weapons was never discussed, although in practice, they seemed quite versatile). They are such boys. He never plays like this with The Girl Next Door.

However, if you ever need to entertain a couple of four year olds, let them make a fort out of sofa cushions and throw a blanket over the top. You will never hear from them again. Except for occasional giggling. The giggling was noisy, but a vast improvement over the screaming that was an integral part of their previous game, �Shut My Friend in the Hall Closet Until He Screams for Mercy.�

Lou Rawls is singing �Silent Night� on iTunes at the moment � a fitting tribute to his death today. A huge loss.

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