AJ has been beside himself with excitement all day, since last night, actually. He walked into my room this morning in his pajamas, dragging his blankie (which I�m starting to think will accompany him to college) behind him. �I get to go to N�s house today!!� And before that he got to go to gymnastics where he got to jump on a trampoline and hurl himself into a pit full of foam blocks. And after that got to go to school where he got to go to gym class. I fear he will be grumpy when he gets home, for we cannot possibly match the fun he�s already had today.

But this does not stop him from planning for future fun.

Scene: Harriet�s kitchen, breakfast time.

AJ: So Thanksgiving�s a week from tomorrow.
Harriet: That�s right. Grandma D., and Aunt G. and Uncle G will be coming over to eat turkey with us.
AJ: I�m not eating turkey. I�m only eating pie.
Harriet: I totally understand.
AJ: What do we do the day after Thanksgiving?
Husband: That�s a very important holiday. That�s The Day of Onerous Tasks.
AJ: What?
Husband: You don�t know about The Day of Onerous Tasks? Let me find you something about it.

My husband, who has many children�s history books to his name including one about the Plymouth Colony, quickly wrote AJ a two page essay about The Day of Onerous Tasks, complete with glosses on unfamiliar terms (onerous � �not fun, not pleasant�). Apparently the children of the Plymouth colony were forced to clean up the mess the pilgrims made on Thanksgiving because they had too much energy after eating too much dessert (and also, implied in the description of the wreckage, because the grownups were hungover). It made me snort with laughter, but AJ looked very serious while reading it. I guess I need to come up with some onerous tasks for him to do on the day after Thanksgiving. I wouldn�t want him to feel left out. Besides, the kitchen floor needs a good scrubbing.

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