Scene: Harriet's kitchen. Harriet walks in with a pile of mail.

Harriet: Hey, AJ, you got some mail! [Hands him a small package]

AJ: Oh boy! [Examines package]. I think it's from Mrs. D. [His kindergarten teacher-to-be].

Harriet: [who knows the package is from his grandparents] Why do you say that?

AJ: Because it says "First Class Mail" and it's my first class!

* * * * *

Does it make me a bad mother to be a little bit glad that AJ was sick yesterday? It was so nice and quiet all afternoon as he lay in bed listening to CDs and reading to himself and sleeping. I was, however, feeling very sorry for him and picked up a get-well card at Walgreen's along with chewable Ibuprofen. He was on the mend by 5 -- I could tell because he suddenly started singing along to "Interjection!" (Schoolhouse Rock). Soon thereafter he was playing baseball in the family room. "Hey, Mommy!" he said, "The get-well card worked!"

I got so much done yesterday while he was feeling poorly, that I got to go to yoga AND enjoy last night's TCM festival of Marx Brothers movies, which is pretty much a perfect evening in my book.

Today he seems to be trying to make up for yesterday's silence by being as loud as possible. We went to lunch with his friend D and the two spent most of the meal trying to make each other laugh until milk came out of their noses -- AJ read about this particular physical capability in a book recently, and he's been game to try it ever since. Fortunately for all parties involved in the lunch, the boys were unsuccessful.

At the moment we are watching "Snoopy Come Home," in an attempt to have some quiet time. However AJ, who saw this movie with his babysitter last weekend, is executing a non-stop narration, filling me in on each element of the plot just as it is about to happen. So much for quiet. Mental note: don't watch mysteries with AJ.

And on that note, I must go. We are trying to decide whether or not we are going see this circus that I wrote about last year. Any activity that requires an organized front leaving the house in a timely fashion is dicey these days. I can no longer blame the summer heat for our torpor. I guess it's just summer in general.

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