First Playdate

In the silence of a 6:05AM darkness, one shout split the tranquil morning air.

“TIME TO GET UP!!!!”

Puck had decided to establish himself as the unauthorized family alarm clock. And it was definitely more than effective.

Meanwhile, Yali spent the morning with Gloria while I worked a lunch shift with Mom up at school. When I returned from serving up 99 ham sandwiches, Gloria had a chocolate mousse waiting for me at Theodore’s office. And a frosted eyeball cookie for Yali. Because he’s a big fan of eyeballs lately.

The afternoon was chill, a little rain. Puck begged for his first official “playdate” at our home. And I couldn’t refuse. So after he and Big J more or less kept out of the way of the girls’ volleyball drills in the gym for about twenty minutes, we packed up everything and drove the short ten minutes back home.

First: a tour of the house, hunting for Crackers the cat. But she was nowhere to be found.

Second: checking out the Xbox. But it wouldn’t cooperate, so…

Third: outside.

“Want to go dig up the garden randomly?” Puck asked.

“Sure!”

“We can check for snakes!”

So they stayed out there with Yali and a couple of shovels for awhile, until…

“Well, Mom, that got old fast.”

Fourth: run around the house in a big game of chase/hide-and-go-seek. Rollerblades also involved.

Fifth: breakfast for dinner. The boys went to town on a platter of bacon, scrambled eggs, and buttered toast.

Sixth: more running around the house in a big game of chase with Yali, screaming bloody murder with a huge grin on his face.

And finally, seventh: Oxbear got home in time to show them how to work the Xbox, Lego Heroes style.

As Big J walked out the door, he also congratulated me on making “good eggs and toast”. I’d call that a pretty big success for a first playdate.