Volunteer Day

Now that I’m the mama of a two year-old again, my days of volunteering have been shaved way down. But today was one of those days.

Mom was already gone to the hospital again to spend the day with Grandma when I dropped Yali off with Linnea-Irish for a full day of fun with the aunt. After we watched the results of a police-supervised domestic disturbance across the street – it doesn’t matter how nice of a neighborhood you live in, it can happen – I deemed the situation safe enough to leave my little niño with Irish, and departed.

As I walked to the old double doors of the school, I heard some of the youngest pre-grades playing make-believe on the jungle gyms.

“A tornado! A tornado’s coming! AAAAH!”

Only in the Midwest.

Everyone wanted to talk about Yali at lunch. I took a break from serving plates of pasta in alfredo sauce and garlic bread to hang out with Puck and his pals at the far table of the cafeteria.

“Puck and I need to have a play date!” Mickey declared.

“WE need to have a play date!” Snicky shouted over the din of the loud crowd.

“We do too!” Nicky added. “I want to see Yali too! Yali loves me!”

Then Violet joined the party. “Where’s the little guy? Is he coming to school today?”

Not even talking yet and already in high demand.

Back to the Ditto sorting room for the first time since May. There’s one job you can’t really get rusty on. It was a quiet 90 minutes of sorting piles of mostly un-sellable kids’ clothes. I finished with enough time to squeeze in about fifteen minutes of reading back at school before carpool.

When we got back to the Big House, Yali was hanging out in a blankets-and-chairs tent in the living room, complete with lantern and Jack Skeleton snow globe for entertainment. Like his brother before him, Yali Snicketts lives the good life.

CARDINALS:

Milwaukee: 5-4 win on rookie Tommy Pham’s 2 home runs.

4 games up on Pittsburgh: 91 and 54; 17 games remaining.

Magic Number: 14.