Spring Break Fun, Alex's Definitions and Cool New Shoes

Words, and most other things, are different in Alex's world. After a whole lot of togetherness during Spring Break, I was about to snap. Alex was singing, dancing, talking loudly and generally bouncing his way through Wal-Mart when I hissed, "Stop, you are being crazy!" He stood still for a moment and looked at me. Then he replied, "I don't think so, Mom. I was just exaggerating. Exaggerating is every now and then, crazy is all the time." It made so much sense at the time, that I wasn't even annoyed anymore. Out of the mouths of babes.

We did have a good Spring Break. Day 1: I decided that Monday would be our fun day and I packed everything I could into it. We wanted to make a road trip to the Lego store just this side of Atlanta, and Alex wanted to go to an arcade. (I should clarify here, when I say "we" I mean Alex and I. Art wouldn't be caught dead in an arcade. Well, unless they had classic video games circa 1977 and no other people in it.) So, after some internet research, we headed to Stars & Strikes in lovely Dacula, GA, which as far as I can tell, is just an outer part of Atlanta. It was awesome and less than 2 hours away. If it was an hour away we'd have been back by now. Stars & Strikes has an arcade, lazer tag and a really cool bowling alley. I was amazed that it wasn't packed but it seemed like we were the only ones there for an hour or so. After Alex raced and crashed various forms of transportation (a jet ski, helicopter and motorcycle all bit the dust), we played air hockey, skee ball and bonded while annihilating Terminators. It was a touching mother/son moment.

I would like to say that I made it out of lazer tag with my dignity intact. If I did, though, I might get struck by lightning. First, the disclaimers, I was wearing sandals, I had to carry a purse AND I am almost 40 years old. That said, Alex ran me into the ground. When I paid the admission for 15 minutes, I thought, "What? Only 15 minutes? What a rip off!" By 9 minutes in, my eyes were glued to that timer, checking to make sure it didn't stop every time I looked away. Alex zipped around the place without a care in the world. We were the only two in the room, and everytime I turned around - he was behind me. I have no idea how many times he shot me, but I'm sure it was in the thousands. Whenever your opponent scores a direct hit your sensors buzz and your gun quits working for 5 seconds. It was like Top Gun during the fight training - "Where'd he go?" "Where'd WHO go?" I'd always thought a minute of sparring in karate was the slowest passing of time that I'd ever experienced. I now know that I was wrong.

Bowling went much better for me. There were the regular lanes on one side of the alley and the "boutique" lanes on the other. They were empty, had comfy couch seating, dim lighting, big screen TVs about the pins and (Alex's favorite) cool racing lights on the lanes. We were the only ones on that side. In a rare turnout, I won. Alex has been beating me at bowling regularly for the past year. I think he's a little tired of the lack of competition, frankly. He made me promise we'd only bowl one game before he put his shoes on. Finally, my high school and college PE classes paid off - I beat a 7-year-old!

We topped off the fun-filled morning with the Lego store and the Crocs outlet. Before you accuse me of dragging a poor boy-child shoe shopping, you need to know that Alex loves his Crocs. He hates going barefoot, and I guess they're the closest thing to it that is acceptable to him. Starting with a pair that Mimi got him when he was a toddler, he has had 3 pair of red Crocs in his life. Sadly, our little boy is growing up. He insisted on a black pair this year, with a little Hogwarts shield decoration that clips in one of the openings. He loves them but it's just not the same.

By the evening of Spring Break, Day 1, we'd had enough of each other. I went to a meeting that evening and they thanked me for coming out and "leaving my family." I explained that it was no problem, really!

The middle of the week was uneventful. We hung out, stayed in our pajamas way too long and read a lot of books. If you can peel Alex away from the dual monkeys on his back - TV and Nintendo DS - he's becoming an excellent reader. He's been through several of the Magic Tree House books and also likes Amelia Bedelia. I just started him on Judy Blume's "Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing" this week. I love her books and got him a box of 5 of them relating to the Fudge character. We are still reading Rick Riordan, too, but we've finished the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. We're on the second book in the Heroes of Olympus series. I showed him the series that he'd done on Egyptian mythology but Alex was not interested. He's still deeply into the ancient Greeks. This new series that we're reading deals with Greek and Roman gods and heroes, so he's adding some Latin to his vocabulary.

We had a great long weekend with my parents at the end of Spring Break. We ate way too much, and Alex entertained them. He sang with the children in church on Sunday so they got to see that performance. Before we got to the egghunt, he said he wasn't interested, but when you put him in a yard with 20 other kids and the promise of prizes and candy, he overcame his boredom. I don't know how many eggs he got but I do know that he got two miniature Twix bars. Don't ask me why I know that, it is a moot point, as they are no longer in his basket.

It was really tough going back to school and work and telling Mimi & Paw goodbye on the Tuesday after Easter. When they leave they tell Alex that they have to go check on their dog Buddy. As we drove to school Tuesday morning, Alex was plotting to bring Buddy to South Carolina. Buddy despises riding in cars and is miserable whenever they try it. I asked Alex what sort of plan he had, but that was all, just that we needed to bring Buddy here, and they would never leave. I'll keep you posted if he fleshes out his plan further.

His other new word? Ignorant. He called me that and I paused for just a moment before threatening his life and asked, "What does that mean?" He shrugged and said "I don't know." That led to another mother/son bonding moment - over why we don't call people things we don't understand (and some we do) and what could happen if we do it anyway. And what toys could be "disappeared" if it happens again.