Spoiled

Oxbear’s cold must have taken a turn for the better. After the 6:15 alarm, he got busy making English breakfast in the kitchen: eggs, baked beans, tomatoes, and toast. Not too shabby.

 

Nine-thirty.

Yali and I waited at the Honda dealership for about an hour and a half while the Fit got its airbags replaced following the recall from quite some time ago. We would finally feel a little safer on the roads.

About five minutes after we took a seat in the waiting area, an elderly gentleman customer walked over to us.

“Can I get him a bag of popcorn?” he nodded to Yali, then to the complimentary snacks in the corner.

Even perfect strangers spoil this kid.

Eventually, Yali polished off the popcorn, so we took a walk around the room. He paused a few times to appreciate his reflection in the side mirrors of the orange Honda 1972 AZ600. So vain.

Then he saw a painting of Jesus on the wall by the men’s bathroom. His eyes lit up.

“DADDY!!”

Seriously, anyone with a beard.

 

On that mild rainy afternoon, we spent a few hours at the Big House with Carrie-Bri, just returned from work. With Mom still in Europe and Irish somewhere in Michigan, it was a very quiet Western front. Yali helped Carrie bake two small loaves of banana cherry bread before we left to gather Puck from school.

 

In the end, that “gathering” lasted over an hour and a half. Yali, fresh off a nap in the car, screamed at Annie-Bea for trying to confiscate him from me. Such a mama’s boy the past few weeks.

“Cake? Cake?” Annie-Bea tried to coax him out of his bad mood.

But today, he wasn’t biting.

About twenty minutes in, Puck and Bob were busy dropping candy wrappers into the stairwell, aiming for “behind the door”, until they got busted by one of the teachers. Getting in trouble 1950s style.

Then Yali soaked himself on the playground slides, fresh off another rain, with Annie-Bea, until both boys decided they wanted to watch Heidi’s volleyball practice in the gym. A chaos of volleyball kids, non-volleyball kids, and a whole lot of preadolescent boy B.O. It usually comes in waves.

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Jamie Larson
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