Color in the Lines, She is watching! (HOL 95)

House of Laughter 95

Every once in a while, I get caught off guard when Isaac does something so “gosh-darn-Lifetime-movie-of-the-week-cute”, I can’t’ help but get a lump in my throat.

Monday morning was rainy and cold. I was not in the mood to go to work and Isaac was not in the mood to go to school, so during the commute, we talked about what we would do that day if we didn’t have to go to school. We agreed that playing games, making strawberry milkshakes, playing with racecars, and watching movies would be a much better way to spend a cold wet Monday.

I told Isaac, “ I don’t want to go to work today either.”

He responded, “But Daddy, you have to take care of the sick people.”

Every time I got frustrated at work, I remembered Isaac telling me why I was here, and I became much less frustrated.

At night, after we read our books, we say a prayer. We thank God for foods we like, animals we saw that day, friends who are sick. Usually Nancy and or I prays out loud, while Isaac does his best to be still and quiet, but a couple of days ago he interrupted Nancy in mid –prayer and said “Thank you for my family.”

Monday afternoon I had a conference with Isaac’s teacher. It is strange to me to talk to someone who only a year ago was a stranger, but she has a more detailed analysis of how my child is developing than I ever would have come up with on my own. She showed me how the muscles in his hands are developing by comparing the difference in how dark his coloring was at the beginning of the year and the end of the year. She knew what letters he could identify. She reported on the progression of his athletic abilities, his communication skills, and social interactions.

It was odd to realize how many facets of his development were being not only tracked but documented with his school work even at three years old. (They did not offer a midicholorian count. I asked.) The meeting was a good mix of Isaac analysis and “we really do love your kid”. If the tone had swung to far one way or the other, it would have been uncomfortable, but I came out of the meeting feeling like he is at the right day care for our family.

Last weekend I asked Isaac if he had any dreams. He told me “The bears came and took my dreams. They took them back to the woods.” Creepy? Cute? You make the call.

Last night at a pizza restaurant, Isaac was coloring the placemat. It was a picture of a dog riding in a van. Isaac drew red lines coming out of the dogs eyes. I asked why the dogs eyes were red and he told me that the dog had “Cyclops Power”. We’ve been reading a lot of comic books lately and saw Wolverine in the theater a couple of weeks ago. Isaac’s favorite good guy right now is “Hulk”. When we get to the fighting parts of the comic, I point to the words on the page and Isaac growls , “HULK SMASH!”. Isaac decided that since Batman has a theme song (lyrics…Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh BATMAN!) and Spiderman has a theme song (lyrics…does whatever a Spider can), Hulk should have a theme song as well. The lyrics to Hulk’s theme song are, “Hulk or Banner, Hulk or Banner, Hulk or Banner” to the tune of Spiderman’s theme song. (Funny side story…I heard a kid at Isaac’s school singing “Spiderpig, Spiderpig, does whatever a spiderpig does.” The teacher told me that all of the kids at daycare sing it. You guessed it, Isaac taught them. I’m a little proud.)

Finally I leave you with some helpful advice for any trips you take this summer from the North Carolina Zoo quarterly magazine. This tip is for making the most of a day at the zoo, “The minute you arrive, collect everyone’s cell phones, drop them in a bag, and lock them in the trunk of your car. Spend the day talking to the ones you are with, not the ones on the line, and you will enjoy the zoo, it’s nature, and it’s animals all the more.”

Strength and Honor

Big Matt