Quarantine

I allotted one more day for Puck’s quarantine when he woke up at seven o’clock, eager for, “More food!” He had already stuffed himself with too many Saltines Sunday night, but he’s a growing boy, so I didn’t begrudge him too much.

Meanwhile, little brother walked around the house, roaring like a tiger, baring his teeth and claws in the air like a beast of the jungle. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if he really thinks he is a tiger. I can’t say he’s exactly moved on from Fredbird yet, but we might soon be approaching that junction: Cardinal or Tiger. Fortunately, in Missouri, he’s safe with both.

And I only caught him crossing quarantine lines once, when he burst through Puck’s door to inspect him with a large magnifying glass after breakfast.

“MOOOM!”

So while my boys got busy doing boy things for the morning in their respective quadrants of the house, I took the opportunity to reschedule Yali’s upcoming nephrology appointment over a couple of peanut butter cups for my own breakfast. Maybe more than a couple. (I wasn’t really that sorry about it.) And also tried to keep Yali from starting the dish washer behind my back. He likes to work on the sly.

Oxbear, taking a day to work from home, took over son duty that afternoon while I drove over to Ladue for Puck’s homework stack. Fortunately Yali isn’t tall enough to work the fridge ice machine yet; that’s one less thing he can get into while I’m gone. Instead, he just points dramatically at it and begins to imitate the sound of ice falling down the chute.

Some clouds brushed over the sun and just above freezing for the middle afternoon as I left. Neighborhood trees plugged with fat gray squirrels. Sometimes our elderly neighbor’s squirrel alarm, which pretty much screams 24/7, reminds me of being back in the mountains of Villavicencio again and the endless alarms. Colombia feels like years ago.

I headed back west about three o’clock with a light homework list for Puck, to drop in at the Big House where all four sisters conferenced about our great aunt’s funeral, and then to the store for fruits and veg for the boys and cookies for me (this is a hopeless situation).

In other news, Oxbear was no longer “Mama”. Yali had now officially graduated him to “Neh-neh”.

Puck’s Monthly What-do-You-Want-to-be-When-You-Grow-Up Status:

“A Youtuber or a lumberjacker or a blacksmith or a scientist.”