Catch Up
Puck slathered the living room floor with blankets and erected a tent in the center of it before I could even get started on subtraction flashcards:
“Crackers doesn’t like this tent because she is Egyptian and a little bit snooty,” he told me. “Because she has some Egyptian in her.”
Things were back to normal.
I was taking longer to adjust, however. Woke too early, feeling tired by mid-morning. Puck brought me the box of Cheerios and a jar of vitamin C:
“Have this and a glass of water first. Then another glass of water. That’s my policy.”
Puck had lived in Utopia while I had been away. Little surprise after a week at Nana’s house, Legoland, the movies, happy meals, and two new shelves built into his room for toys and books.
Puck had also been waiting several weeks for a Minecraft poster. Had been saving his dollars. He proudly carried the rolled tube through the store, asking that I be careful not to crush it with the groceries. Halfway through, he complained that his stomach didn’t feel so well, perched on the end of the cart in his red wellies:
“Maybe if you don’t hang your gut over the edge of the cart, it will help,” I suggested.
He hopped off. On the way out, I asked if his stomach had improved:
“Not really. But it’s okay, Mom. I don’t need any help. I will be fine. I’m a man.”
Lazy snowflakes floated quietly out the windows while I put chicken in the oven and mixed guacamole. Only three days removed from beach, sweat, and sunblock. This was an uncanny start to my spring. Puck sat on the couch, stomach recovered, finishing his masterpiece of the afternoon: multi-eyeballed alien.
An hour later, Puck examined the remains of his dinner still clotted on one side of his plate as I Love Lucy’s episode of “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” rolled credits on the laptop:
“Finish up, Puck.”
“Umm … I get stage eating sometimes, Mom.”
While I washed dishes, he completed his paper-and-ink-based alien at the table, carefully labeling body parts with an orange pen. Then made photo copies for the grandmas. He has become used to the high demand for his art.
El Oso joined us just in time to cozy down Puck into the blanket world transferred to the floor of his room for the night.
Puck’s Weekly What-do-You-Want-to-be-When-You-Grow-Up Status:
“Scientist and Inventor.”