My own little Calvin

Tonight, Jackson was reading Calvin and Hobbs to me at bedtime and it occurred to me that Jackson is Calvin. He's such a goof ball, so full of life and fun and mischief. I asked him if I could call him Calvin and without skipping a beat he said "No!" and kept reading. A minute later he said "but Calvy is ok." Calvy? (I have no idea how one might spell that)

You're okay with Calvy, but not Calvin? I ask skeptically. Of course, he tells me as if that was a stupid question and keeps reading.

Later after way, way, way too much frivolity with both boys before finally getting him into bed, Jackson pulls the covers up and rolls over on his side and totally deadpans the words... snore blow... snore blow... snore blow... snore blow. It takes me a minute, cuz well you know, usually if someone is going to fake snoring they make the noise and ha ha, it's funny, but no, not good ol' Calvy... snore blow... snore blow. I fell on the floor laughing. I was totally done. I swear if I ever get a new pet I'm going to name him snoreblow... I dont' know what we'll call him for short, but that's definitely his name.

Camela

My son the book smuggler

Teddy is a very avid reader. Since he learned to read actual books we've had to fight with him every single night at bedtime to put the book down and go to bed. Every night one of us puts him to bed only to go and check on him several minutes later to find him reading. We totally get that this is a good problem to have, it's sort of nonsensical to be mad at your child for reading too much, but still, the boy needs his sleep.

Of course we take his current book of choice out of his room each night, but his room is full of books and comic books and there is always something of interest he'll want to read somewhere within reach. If he thinks we'll notice him turning on his light (or the flashlight under the covers) he'll just quietly go into the bathroom and read away until we notice he's no longer in his room. When I say this goes on every night, I'm not remotely exaggerating... every single night for... I don't know.. I guess four and a half years we've had this little battle. The only times it doesn't happen is due to pure exhaustion or illness.

Recently what's been working if I'm the one who puts him down is I just station myself in the hallway where I can see his feet in the bed. He'll wait a minute or two to be sure the coast is clear and then he'll sit up, on his way to find a book and a light source, only to see me standing there. He'll get a cute and goofy grin on his face and lay back down. I'll make some noises suggesting I've gone into my bedroom and he'll get up again, see me, grin, lay down. Each time he'll wait a bit longer and so far my patience has outlasted his will.

Then we come to last night. Brad's putting him to bed. Teddy says he's got to go to the bathroom so of course Brad suspects it is so that he can read and tells him so. Teddy stands in front of Brad with his arms extended and says "Look. Check me out. I've got no books, I've really got to go to the bathroom." After first checking the bathroom for hidden books Brad reluctantly lets him pass. But something was nagging at him... he just didn't trust Teddy... Wait, I know, he thinks, he was walking sort of stiffly. Brad barges back into the bathroom less than 10 seconds later and says "You have a book under your shirt, don't you?"

Brazenly Teddy looks his father in the eye and lifts his shirt... no book. But, he moves his feet just enough for Brad to see the book he'd already taken from under the shirt and placed on the floor next to the toilet. Pointedly Brad looks at it and then at him... The sheepish grin returned and Ted handed the book to Bradford.

Camela

Not the best day

Brad's mom was due to arrive on Tuesday afternoon at 4:55 and he was going to drop Teddy at a neighbor's so they could take him to swim team practice and then go and get his mom while I got Jackson from school a bit later... great, no big deal. But then Monday night, what we thought had been an annoying cold - generally not feeling well and the mother of all coughs - took a turn and Brad was down for the count. As Brad was the first man on the face of the earth to ever have actually suffered with a bad cough you can imagine he'd already been a particular joy to live with, but now, well now he was just out of the picture and asleep, completely incapable of getting out of bed for the next two days. His fever spiked, the chills set in, he had himself a nice case of the flu.

Okay so plans changed I can certainly handle this, right? I have to leave work early to get his mom. The timing of the flight make me doubt my ability to get the kids from school after 4ish when school lets out and before 6 when aftercare ends. So I call my friend Lida and asked her to pick up my kids from school and take them to swim practice where her son is also scheduled to be so I can get my MIL from the airport. Of course Lida will help me, but she tells me she has to run an errand that can't wait so I tell her to leave Jackson at the pool while Teddy and Brian are swimming. I think, no problem, I have to stop at home anyway to put Ted's swim stuff in a bag so I can easily add a gameboy that will keep Jack moderately occupied for the hour or so of practice.

As I continue to think about it, I just don't like the idea of Jackson being unattended at the pool so I decide to change plans and get the kids from school myself, I'm thinking if I'm there right when the let out, I'll have enough time. I call the school to find out exactly when school let's out (yeah, yeah, yeah so what if Teddy has been going to this school for six years, I didn't know the answer to that question) and hey guess what it's 3:15ish and not 4ish (so I'm stupid but have more time in my plan). I'll drop Ted at home and get Lida to pick him up from there and I'll take Jack with me to get grandma... perfect. Call Lida. Change plans. No problem. I leave work with just enough time (leaving early had not been in my plans in the morning), run home, pack a bag for Teddy, put it on the kitchen table, run to school, grab Jack.... where's Ted? Jack has no idea. Anyone? the clock's ticking people. Someone remembers he's in rocketry club. Oh sure, I knew that. It's almost 4:15 and I think somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind it lets out at 4:15 so we head down to where it's held to get him... yeah not so much, they're right in the middle of some experiment. Okay, new plan.

Jack - let's go! Call Lida... and she's not home.. shoot shoot shoot. Wait, I have her cell. Call Lida, please get Teddy at school, I'll stop at the house and drop his bag at your house and we can maybe almost make it to the airport in time. Run home. Get bag. Drop bag. Fly. The whole time we're heading there the sky looks pretty ominous in my rear view mirror. I tell Jackson I hope her flight is delayed by a few minutes because I don't want her to worry if we're not there when she lands. We get there at 5:02. She walks very slowly so I'm thinking we still have a shot. We find a board to check where she'll be arriving and thankfully she's delayed by 25 minutes; not due to land until 5:20, phew! Jack and I hang out. 5:20 comes and goes, as does 5:40, and 6pm. The sky is now full of the wrath of God, someone has seriously pissed off the big guy. I'm thinking maybe they diverted the plane because of the storms, but all the information I and all my new friends waiting for the same flight can get say it's still due to land 40 minutes ago... until finally we're updated, it's due to land at 7:20.

This was taken looking out the airport window with my iphone. While I

was telling Jackson how amazing it looked, I was thinking about where
I was going to take him if a funnel dropped out of those swirling clouds

Drive home. Get pizza along the way. Call babysitter to keep kids from waking Brad (I'll be home in time to put them to bed and for babysitter to get back home to finish their homework). Get home. Check flight status. Now it's 7:40. Kids and sitter are eating. Check again.... 8:00. She calls they're in Long Island. They flew from Albany to Long Island - long flight. Check again... 8:40. Find out they are actually taking off from Long Island. Wake Brad.. honey, you have to put the kids to bed (that's really just Jackson), I'll be back too late. He grunts and nods that he can handle it. Jack's distraught that he won't get his normal bedtime routine... far more whiney than normal for him, great! just what we need. suck it up boy!

Take unneeded sitter home. Drive to airport. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Reconnect with my old friends from a few hours ago. Wait. Finally they landed and finally she walks down the ramp. Get her some food and get home just before 10pm.

I get up early only to have Jackson running, crying to me.... "mommy, mommy, I'm going to be sick!" and sure enough, I now understand why he was so whiney the night before.

Camela

Howard County's Bollards attacked Teddy (and they lie in wait for the rest of the neighborhood kids)

We tried to warn them, but did they listen? Nooooooo. It was only a matter of time, we told them. Someone's child is going is going to get hurt; cuts and bruises- certainly, a broken arm or leg - only a matter of time, a head injury - a definite possibility... Howard County's Department of Rec and Parks left messages unanswered and what unofficial information we could get said that the new bollards that were installed just had to be there...

Okay, first of all I need to stop and be amused at the word bollard.... I mean, seriously, bollard? Can't you just say big wooden post? The dictionary.com definition is:

bol·lard (bŏl'ərd) n.
(1) Nautical A thick post on a ship or wharf, used for securing ropes and hawsers.
(2) One of a series of posts preventing vehicles from entering an area.

So the posts that Howard County installed to mark the narrow strip of land they own between my house and my neighbor's house are bollards? Hmmm I guess that would explain the no fishing signs that were on the temporary metal ones before these big 4x4 posts were cemented into the ground. It's odd but until now the word nautical hadn't popped to mind when looking at this grassy area, but I guess I should be grateful that these bollards will prevent traffic from deciding to detour into the woods behind our homes.

So of course, the first child hurt is Teddy. Teddy is not one of the kids in the neighborhood that will lay out for a pass during one of the many football games that take place between our two houses, but he will risk life and limb to intercept a pass from Jackson and so it was on this warm Saturday afternoon - the babysitter threw a pass to Jackson and Teddy raced across the front yard and intercepted the ball. He turned to score and ran smack dab into one of the bollards the County decided to mark their property with. His chest hit first and he got a nasty scratch/gash thingy that turned some pretty shades of purple before it was all healed. Brad's first comment to Teddy when we saw his chest the next morning was... "well, did you drop the pass?" The answer was yes and Brad was very disappointed.

Since they were installed our home owners' association has been trying to talk to the County about the bollards, we all knew someone - really lots of someones were going to get hurt but all of the messages went unanswered until finally a County employee out here on another matter talked to Mark from our HOA and told him that there was a safer alternative; a metal spike sort of thing that can be embedded underground instead of these big huge immobile bollards and we could have these installed for the bargain price of $250 each. I'm not sure if that included the removal of the bollards, or if that part was up to us. I must say, my first reaction to the cost was shock - that certainly sounds like the County asking us to pay them to prevent future lawsuits against them... I guess it's nice work if you can get it.

So while the HOA continues along their path I sent an email to our County Executive, Ken Ulman, along with a bunch of pictures - of Teddy's chest, of the field in which the bollards now sit, of the safer spike option the County told us exists - and in less than two weeks we've had some good progress. Candace Dodson-Reed one of the County's Community Liaisons called to let me know the County was going to replace the two "front" bollards; the ones closest to the street with the underground stakes at no cost to us. I told her I was thrilled they're going to do that, but it's actually one of the "rear" bollards that in my opinion poses the most risk. It's truly in the middle of a wide open space; just exactly where the deep passes are thrown. She said she was going to consult with Park and Recs again and get back to me. I am so far pleased with the County Executive's responsiveness and hope the rest of the bollards are removed as well before another child is injured, possibly much more seriously than Teddy was.

The top two were taken the day after he ran into the post. They lack all the fun colors his chest turned over the days that followed. The bottom two are pictures of the posts themselves. The first bollard picture is the one near the street that he ran into and though I didn't show it well, it's really just out there all by itself. The 2nd bollard picture is of the two in the "rear", further away from the street and as you can see the bollard on the left is totally in no man's land, just waiting for a kid to run full force into it while tracking the ball instead of the ground.

This is a picture of the stake the guy from the county showed us that is a safer alternative.