It’s getting harder and harder for me to send Q home when it’s time.
He’s here and I’m all running errands and putting things away where they belong and matching socks straight from the dryer. He’s gone and I’m about as useful and good as cold french fries.
He and Jon Alex built a leprechaun trap over the weekend. The idea is to leave the trap in the first grade pod at school, trying to catch the leprechauns that take over the school over Spring Break and cause all kinds of mischief. My job was to paint the trap bright, shiny colors. Leprechauns like bright, shiny colors and won’t even look at a dull, colorless trap. Painting it last night wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. Q was on the phone with me barking orders. Okay, not barking orders. But you know how men get when it comes to stuff they built with their boys. He wants it to be perfect. I can understand that. I am typing with bright blue fingers today. Damn paint that got everywhere.
Because of Q, I am also more vigilant with my finances. I actually check my bank account for cleared checks and potential discrepancies. That’s how I discovered Jordan spending all kinds of money on iTunes downloads. I didn’t get mad, although I was confused. What made her think she could spend money from my account without permission? On songs we already owned. From a CD sitting in the fucking kitchen drawer. All she had to do was get up, walk to the kitchen, get the CD then download it to her computer in her room. Too much trouble. Let’s buy it all over again cuz Mommy has money.
No yelling. I didn’t yell at Jon Alex when he kept begging me for birthday cupcakes and I asked him to find something else to eat while he waited for me to get him a cupcake. I came out of my room to get the cupcake and he was eating birthday cake. “Um, WTF, Jon Alex?” I got a shrug and a “You said to eat something else. This is not a cupcake.”
I explained that I meant the Wing Stop chicken strips on the table, not the cake. Oh, he says. Okay. I set up for Jordan a monthly allowance in iTunes and removed my credit card from her account. No yelling. Kids are kids. As one of Jordan’s doctors says: Kids are dumb. It’s up to us to get them to understand what we are saying. Over and over.
Q gave me a nice compliment on the way I handled both episodes of dumbness. He then took all the credit. And I let him have the credit. Two is always easier than one. I’m not too independent to admit that I need him.
Here. I need him here.
[13 missing comments]
