Just Give me the Month Off
Puck was begging another band-aid: an infinitesimally small blood spot at the base of his thumb. The first one quickly peeled off, as he dabbed his hand on his writing page. “I’m makin’ blood prints!”
Linnea walked through the front door after ten, carrying a Target sack of math…
“How was your surprise party?”
“Good,” she grinned.
Something about twenty kids, games, and an ice cream cake. Her best bud had arranged everything, which meant that the first idea of a Legend of Sleepy Hollow theme – the original old-fashioned version – was no longer necessary.
Mom and Carrie took Puck shopping. Linnea’s birthday was on Monday and groceries were also needed. 12:00: Game 2: NLDS. Not… as expected. But my prediction had been in four anyway. I tried to focus on algebra with my baby sister instead of plays, but there was only so much I could do. Now it was basically best of three, advantage: Pirates.
About an hour and a half later, a knock at the door. Puck burst through with two sacks of groceries. “Do not even try to make me eat lunch, Mom! I am stuffed from pretzel!” Perks of shopping “with Grandma”.
The ladies moved on while Puck revealed his most recent disaster of spontaneity…
“I poured all that old cream into the trash can, Mom.”
“Puck… that was a bad idea.”
“Well, I didn’t know.”
“I need you to think, bud.”
“I can’t think if I don’t know; that’s the problem. Mom.”
While the game meandered into cement roadblocks, we continued studies in Cahokia Mounds and some wind and light sunshine outdoors. Puck had also coaxed the solidified remains of his orange walls out of the paint bucket – thick, round cheese – a prize of the day.
Later that evening, he enjoyed a first viewing of “The Long, Long Trailer” for movie night, a mixing bowl of buttered popcorn, and some laughs. Then, before the adult’s movie night started, all the “treasures” Puck had lugged up from the basement and other rooms throughout the day needed to be returned…
“Puck, can you grab the Encyclopedias?”
“Those aren’t really my style, Mom. I like to help with natural things.”
When a tiny spider landed on Cassidy for the second time during Mystery Science Theater 3000, she attempted a kill.
“Aw, little spiders like that are cute,” Rose protested, cocooned in the saucer chair. “They’re thinking ‘I’m free! I’m free!’ Just learned how to spin web out of its butt!”
“Don’t baby spiders eat their moms?” Magnus contemplated.
“Uh… I don’t think so…”
“Yeah, but in Blade Runner…”
“That’s not real,” Cassidy corrected him.
Then Magnus started giggling hysterically about angry koalas on his iPhone.