I'm on the computer and G is playing cars & legos at my feet (of course).
He's carrying on conversations with himself....
"I dot a little spaceship. BAST OFF!"
"Why are you doing on da bus?"
"Das my mom."
"My mom is a worker."
"An me too. I'm a worker."
"You a bad driver."
"Das ok. Iz a little accident."
"You need to go to jail?"
"No, he can't. Iz just a little accident."
"Well, I need-a go to jail"
"Well, my car is broken, so I can't go to jail."
And my personal favorite, the exasperated....
"LordHaveMercyG."
.... I totally don't know where he would have gotten that from.
Can you see G?
He's standing up at the very top of the hill.
All of the other children are busy rolling down the hill or walking up it.
Not G. He's studying them.
They look like they're having fun.
What exactly are they doing?
How are they doing it?
He watched them for 5 minutes from the bottom of the hill, never saying a word.
Then he asked if he could walk to the top of the hill and he watched some more.
Then - with no warning - he was ROLLING!
Crazily
At an angle
Losing his glasses
Laughing with abandon
Rolling.
Love it.
Have you ever seen a Live Butterfly Garden kit before?
G got one in August and thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Or - if we're being honest - I thought it was the coolest thing ever. G enjoyed it too.
The caterpillars come via the mail. In a self-contained jar. That includes their food.
You know that's how I like to enjoy "nature."
The caterpillars mosey around their jar, eating & pooping & spinning silk & growing. After about a week, they hang upside down in a little J shape, and shake, and turn into chrysalids. Right before your eyes.
And did I mention that it was the coolest thing ever?
Butterflies emerge in about a week.
We kept them for a few days, loving their beauty, and then released them. Painted lady butterflies are native to the 48 states, and it was warm, so no problem.
G loved it. He chose the spot to release them... near some flowers so the butterflies could stay & enjoy them.
Not so much. Those butterflies were out of dodge. To the neighbor's house and beyond!
I enjoyed it enough that I decided to extensively study butterflies, by consulting a nearby expert, Dr. Google.
He revealed to me that people should never purchase Live Butterfly Gardens, as it messes up local butterfly migrations and interferes with scientific tracking of butterflies, and is not really "nature."
ahem.
In summary.... I recommend that you do all butterfly research via the Live Butterfly Garden kit helpful package inserts. And - if your household currently includes small children - please consult Aunt Heidi before purchasing a kit, as Christmas might be planned.
p.s. On a serious note... I really did appreciate the experience, but do not like the thought of messing up local butterfly migrations. What do you think about that?
Hi.
I'm practicing.
So this is how you write a blog post?
Yeah, I remember this.
Sorry I've been absent. It's really a tragedy, since life has given me SO MUCH GOOD MATERIAL. Had I been writing, you would have laughed, you would have cried, you would have marveled at the ridiculousness my life.
The biggest news is that I just gave birth to a baby boy.
And then he left for college.
It happened that fast. Seriously.
The "taking him to college" part was an extreme blur. The college had tons of parent activities planned. Of course, I was also zipping back & forth, tending to G's needs. We were flying nonstop at supersonic speeds, and then there was one moment where everything suddenly shifted into slow motion...
It was Saturday night. We'd moved Joseph & all of his stuff into his dorm. And all of his stuff. And more stuff.
No joke. Joseph even took an extra bookcase to college because he could not conceive of living without bunches of his books.
Anyway. It was Saturday night. The parent meetings were all over. There was a nighttime dorm social that Joseph had to get to. [Time is suddenly slowing down.] He turned & gave me a hug & said Good-bye, and then he said, "Well, you can pick me up for church tomorrow." [Each second is passing like it's a 1/2 hour.] And I have to respond, "Actually, I think it's time for you to find your own church now." And he was like, "Yeah, right. Bye."
And we left.
SO strange to be utterly consumed with the job of Parenting for 19 long years.... and then have it be done.
I know - blah blah blah not done blah blah just different blah.
It feels done.
And yet only beginning.
I couldn't leave it like that.
Every day I've been frantically cobbling together an array of care plans for G. It's quite involved. For today, I lined up "the homeschool girls."
Side note: The "girls" are actually in their young 20's and not in school. Their father doesn't like for a daughter to travel alone, so they only go out if a sibling is available to accompany them. Very nice, responsible "girls."
For some unknown reason, G's bus service was canceled. No one can tell me why that happened, but they do know that it takes 5 days to "reinstate" service. I gave them a detailed plan of where G was to go.
I've been using (more) vacation time to leave work, pick G up from school, and drop him off at my house with the babysitter du jour.
That was getting old so the girls agreed to pick G up for me.
I would pay them extra.
I ensured they had a car seat.
I printed directions for them.
I made sure to email the school so they could release G to the girls.
In the morning, I personally confirmed with G's teacher a description of the girls.
I dropped G off.
I was at work, leading a meeting. That's what I do. Suddenly, a face popped in the door, "Heidi, I'm so sorry to interrupt, but someone is on the phone. Apparently, someone took G and he's at the wrong house...."
THE BUS COMPANY DECIDED TO START SERVICE EARLY.
The girls weren't there yet, so THE TEACHER PUT G ON THE BUS VAN.
THE VAN DRIVER STARTED GOING TOWARD THE NEW BABYSITTER'S HOUSE.
As the homeschool girls were pulling into G's school, one looked up at a passing van and said "I think that was G!" She wasn't positive, but decided to follow the van. Later, she told me, "I was just praying & asking God for wisdom." Of course, she doesn't have my work number in her phone.
The girls gave chase until the van caught a stop light. Then one girl got out of the car, and approached the driver: "Do you have G on the van? Yes? We're supposed to be watching him today."
Of course, the driver wouldn't give him to them.
They followed the van to its destination - as I've mentioned - the new babysitter's house.
That would be "the new babysitter" as in, "the babysitter who I've only met once" or "the babysitter who doesn't even have my contact info yet" or "the babysitter who is probably going to quit because she's afraid of the freak-weirdishness she's gotten herself into."
The van driver and the home school girls knock on the babysitter's door. She's a little unsettled.... understandably, right?
It's decided that the driver will release G to the babysitter, and she will (happily) release G to the girls. This is the point where they're finally able to get me on the phone. Sheesh.
But there's more.
Soon after arriving at my home, the girls call me again. G has retreated under a table and is screaming. Melt down. You think the recent flux has maybe been a tad stressful for him? They put him on the phone. He's crying, "Mama, I want ch-YOU!"
After that call, I'm back on the phone... with the school. I've explained the happenings. The school lady says, "Well, it's so hard for the bus company at the beginning of the year. All the drivers are new. The routes are new. There are so many changes. It's really hard for them. I mean, did you want me to call them? It's just that they have so much going on."
YES I WANT YOU TO CALL THEM!
Is it just me, or do you also think it's kind of important for a bus company to manage to bus every child to the correct home? Especially when the child is four years old? You think?
Tonight, G was very clingy. And asking about Mr. Jim. And into bed early.
The adventure goes on.
It's too bad that my life is such a chaotic mess full adventure.
If only I had time to blog, I could provide great entertainment to you every single day.
For example, today I could write about how a school bus took Gavenson to to the wrong house!
Too bad I don't have time.
