Then we stopped at Sonic to get food on the way to the library and Wal-Mart. Shortly after we left (before Alex ate anything but after he saw his kids’ meal toy) he announced that he didn’t feel well – his stomach hurt. Here is where I must put my interpreting skills to work. We played “Many Questions.” Does your stomach hurt, or do you not want to eat your food? Did you just want the toy? Do you need to go home or can you still make it to the rest of our stops? Do you have to throw up, or use the bathroom? We settled on him needing to go home and use the bathroom. After a quick pit stop we continued on, oh, yeah, there was the lecture about why didn’t we go at the oil change place or Sonic, etc., instead of making me drive home. There was no good answer.
Next we went to the library. We’ve got a bit of a road trip coming up so we stocked up on some books we might need. We got a couple of DVDs and a book on how to draw dragons. Hopefully that will keep him occupied for a few miles anyway. We also have Netflix sending us a couple of Abbott & Costello movies. I also have a little bag of goodies I can hand out state by state. We’ve started on the second Harry Potter book as well, but I’m not sure if I can read while we’re riding. I still can’t believe he sat through the entire first book, but he begged for a week until we started the second one.
(Poor deprived child: in the first Harry Potter book there is a mirror that shows the person looking into it the thing he wants most. After we finished reading that night I asked Alex what he would see if he looked into that mirror. “Two TVs,” he answered.)
On to our last stop at Wal-Mart. First we needed plants for the flower pots on the patio. As I’m browsing the marigolds and petunias, Alex announced that he wanted a plant that ate bugs. I told him that I wasn’t sure they had them, but we’d look. He kept finding flowers with buds on them and asking if they ate bugs. No, they don’t, so we looked inside with the house plants. None there either, we’ll keep looking. As we walked through electronics Alex tells me, “I think you should break up with Dad.” Why? It boils down to Art being an intrusion that takes my full attention away from Alex. With him out of the way life would be better, according to Alex. I brought up the one TV thing again and told him that if Dad left he might take it with him. That stopped that talk.
Alex danced and sang his way through the aisles. At one point I told him to stop. He told me, “I can’t, Mom; I’m stuck on dance mode.” Sigh.
Last night Art had a meeting so we headed to Waffle House. The waitress asked him how many time-outs he had that day. He said one, he thought. Not bad. (He told Art it was because he called someone a fathead. Not the words I would’ve chosen, but the kid does have a big head.) He continued his insistence on runny fried eggs. He had those, bacon, toast, hash browns and a waffle (and ate most of it). The only person to come in while we were there sat a couple of seats down from us at the counter. He must have been a regular because they brought his coffee right away. A few minutes later he still hadn’t ordered, so Alex asked “Why does he just have a drink and no food?” The man thought that was pretty funny. The two of them struck up a conversation; his grandson is at the school Alex will start in August. When we left Alex did one of his dance move exits (reminiscent of Michael Jackson, but G-rated) at the door. The whole place cracked up.
Tonight is T-ball. That is going much better. They got uniform shirts last week and that improved his team spirit immensely. The second practice also had them in actual positions, batting and running like in a real game. Now he’s actually looking forward to it. We may have rain but they have a good indoor space that they will meet in if we’re rained out. Hopefully he’ll be happy to be there again tonight.
Update: T-ball did not go as well as last week. Apparently the third baseman is supposed to stand while in his position. Who knew? The whole thing was a Chinese fire drill - it wasn't just Alex. Kids ran to the wrong bases, one got passed while running bases and two collided going for the same ball. I think it broke the coaches' spirit 'cause they let practice out 15 minutes early. Oh, well.
I'm including some pictures of Art's latest handiwork. He made us a rain barrel (I found the design online). He's using it with a timer to water all our plants. It's amazing how much water it collects. It's hooked up to the gutter on the shed and less than an inch of rain will completely fill it.
He also made a planter for his vegetables. It had a spotty start, as he put it in my former parking place, and I'm not good with change. I took out a terra cotta pot the first morning I left for work. (It's not like I eat tomatoes!) Alex has high hopes for the butternut squash.
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