AJ�s friend D came over at 8:30 this morning to play while his mom went to the one place moms hate to take their kids � you know the place I mean. It involves sticking your feet in a pair of stirrups and it ain�t no riding stable. D and AJ were very busy. They built a city of skyscrapers out of cardboard boxes in the family room. They staged elaborate train crashes and demolition derbies in AJ�s room. And they hooked up all 50+ cars of AJ�s die-cast trains to make �The Longest Train Ever.� After cleaning up (and its inevitable soundtrack of whining), we all drove to the ice rink where AJ and D took turns pushing each other and then another little girl around the ice on a chair while I practiced skating on one foot without falling down. All of us were moderately successful. Afterwards, D�s mom and little brother rejoined us for lunch at the local restaurant serving fine cuisine imported all the way from Wisconsin. Because I am a mean Mommy, I made AJ walk to school. �But it�s cold!� �But it�s sunny!� �But I�m tired!� �A nice walk will wake you up.� �I don�t want to!� �Too bad.� But we had fun anyway. We played I-spy and follow-the-leader and counted in Spanish. We petted a horse and climbed some rocks and stomped through piles of leaves. We waved at a policeman and ran shrieking down the sidewalk when his siren went off. And we played our pattern game, where one person has to think of a way to move down the sidewalk in a pattern. AJ�s favorite is �run hop.� Mine is �jump skip kick.� And then we were at school and said goodbye. The walk home always feels a little lackluster after dropping off AJ. Even the horse didn�t come back to say hello to me when he saw I was alone. He just stared at me from the far side of the paddock, following me with a turn of his head. And now I am left alone with Beethoven in a quiet basement. The hand of fate is knocking at the door. [Second entry today. Click back to read about my apocalyptic dream. But why would you want to do that?] 2 people said it like they meant it |