A day in the life

Yesterday, March 01, 2010

I don't know why we use our garage door as the main door in our house, but we do. And, each morning when I leave the door goes up with a laborious vibrating vrrrrrrr. It is important to note that the boys room is over the garage and that on occasion opening the door on my early departure wakes them. On this day as I prepared to get into the truck and make the trek to work I heard a little voice cry out, "Dad!" I thought there was a fire or something and headed back toward the garage opening when I see wg4 running through the garage in only pajama bottoms, hair mussed. He jumps into my arms. "Dad, I wanted to give you a hug before you left for work." Oh, is that all I think. Is that all, wow, what a wonderful way to start the day.

Later I got a call at work from dg6, "Dad, can we have a yard sale?"
"I don't know ask Mom and if she's okay with it so am I. What would you sell?"
"Yogurt and pickles and blueberries." The blueberries give away that he's looking in the fridge.
"Wait, you mean you want to have a stand where you can sell things?"
"Yeah."
"Son, I'm not sure people will stop to buy pickles or yogurt or blueberries. What would you charge?"
"$5"
"$5 is a lot son. It has to be a good deal for people or they won't buy anything from you and it has to be something that people actually want."
"Okay, what should we sell?"
"I don't know son, since this is your endeavor why don't you think about it."
"Dad, if you wanted to earn money what would you do?"
"I'd ask my parents for a list of chores and negotiate an allowance."
"Well, I'm not gonna do that."

Then wg4 gets on the phone. "Dad, I want armor and a sword so I can be a real knight."
"Well, you already have a sword and we could make you some armor out of the cardboard box upstairs."
"No Dad, real armor." At the Renaissance Festival he tried on some pretty cool gauntlets, so I think I know where he's going. They were cool and expensive! So, not to always run to cost I say, "Son, a full suit of real armor is very heavy and you're very small, I don't think you could lift it." A brief silence.
"Okay, we can make my armor out of the box." A bullet dodged.

On the way home I had a raging headache. We went for pizza. We know the owner. The boys call him by his last name which he enjoys.

Kait came over for family home evening. This Saturday she auditions for theater at the U. She's not ready. I suggested maybe she doesn't really want to do it, that she's been counselled by her instructor that she doesn't do better in competition because she is unprepared and yet she's still unprepared. She argues that maybe it isn't really the school she wants to go to by way of explaining why she's unprepared. She asks if I think she's lazy. I say, "Yes." I think it's time for her to get with the program or move on with her life. She's good, but she doesn't work hard yet. It's time she work hard.