Ah summer, how we love thee. The afternoon drone of the cicadas is now transitioning into the riotous nighttime rampage of the male katydids suggesting that summer is past it’s prime. Should have called them katydon’ts! A deafening warning attempting to drive us inside before that one mosquito which has been laying in wait all day is abuzz near an ear in search of the juiciest site to alight. I believe it was the Dali Lama who said “If you think small things can’t make a difference, try spending a night in a room with a mosquito.” Slightly off topic there but sadly, the light is also changing and already there is a feeling in the air that caused me to notice our woodpile could use augmentation in preparation for the cooler days ahead. Susan quickly pointed out that she has no intention of being in a climate this winter that requires a wood fire for warmth. But still………..
Have been home, in one place, for over a week now and am beginning to digest the events that we devoured so eagerly in early summer. At this juncture in my life I am free to admit that self improvement is playing second fiddle to the pursuit of pleasure! The self improvement thing wasn’t going so well anyway; but the great pleasures of the summer, of which there are many, were highlighted by our time spent with our already one year old grandsons and also seeing our children as parents. As undisciplined as I often felt my children were in earlier years, they are now to the extreme about keeping their offspring on strict sleeping schedules! I believe that this week was the first time in over a year that Kelsey didn’t wake Kieran up three times a night! We will long remember those dark days (nights) of pacing outside the door of a screaming child and that was back in the day when infants had it good. What baby can possibly sleep in todays world with the white noise machine raging, a monitor recording every sound and displaying every move – I mean why sleep when you know your parents are watching? – and not even a blanket for warmth or a stuffed animal to talk to. I know….It’s the safety thing and yes, they are more likely to be alive in the morning – but are up early and ready to get even! A warning to my children, when you get old and are under the care of your offspring, don’t expect a blanket!
The two boys essentially the same age live on opposite coasts, are remarkably unalike and are on completely different developmental paths. They do share the same enviable table manners and leave an interesting food moat around the base of their highchairs. Less of a problem for Kelsey than for Suzi thanks to the two dogs who are fanatical about a clean floor. Now if she could teach them to eat dog hair we’d be onto something. In this age of genetic engineering how hard could it be to insert a gene for hair consumption in every puppy? I think a good slogan for a genetic engineering company would be: “Genes, it’s not like we’re born with them!” Back to the subject at hand. Kelsey also places Kieran in a long sleeve, plastic feeding gown which can be hosed down between courses. Suzi eliminates that step and plops Jameson right in the kitchen sink. I’m not making this up!
Jameson has been walking since shortly after the umbilical chord was cut, laughs about everything – most likely at us – can climb on most of the furniture as well as pick it up and move it, speaks two languages ( sounds like “uh-oh” and “uh-oh“), can drive a Kowasaki ATV and started to shave at ten months. Pretty normal. Kieran is more willing to let life come to him. Enjoys going out to lunch, smiling at waitresses and seeing how many times I’ll pick the spoon up off the floor – – – more than I had ever envisioned! Good fun! He discovered gravity! They should have named him Newton. He’s heard about his cousin walking and decided it’s not really for him. Early on, his mother and father took him snow shoeing, hiking and camping and he was quick to realize that where they were going, the view was better from a back-pack. For the record, he walked just fine when he was alone with Susan and I! He’s also sticking with one language. Actually one phrase. It goes something like this: “uh-oh.”
Also got to spend time with Cameron. The beauty of being the youngest child is that you can learn from the example of your older siblings. Cameron has it all: a cute girl-friend, a job he really enjoys, the vehicle of his choice, rental property, his own apartment and all the tools and toys a boy needs. But the one thing that his brother and sister had that he didn’t was a lack of sleep. “uh-oh!” So to share their misery he got himself a puppy!! Cute? Yes… Demanding? Yes…..Up all night? YES!! Just like having a child with fur. And so it goes.
As Tom was so astute as to remind us. In the words of the good Doctor Pangloss “We live in the best of all possible worlds.” How true! How true!
Thought for the day: If you run backwards, will you gain weight?
From high on the Grumpstump!
Two items:
Our eldest (late) son, Daniel, was raised by a cat who slept in his crib every night and walked him back and forth to the school bus every day when he was old enough to do so. We had gotten her another cat before the baby was born so that she would not feel as if our affections had been transferred from her. Until the day that she died, she despised the other cat and loved Daniel. Yeah, we would have been arrested for child abuse if anything had happened to him, but the cat made sure that nothing did. So much for modern child rearing instructions. (By the way, I suspect that you discovered, as we did, that Dr. Spock was wrong about most things)
Secondly, having lived with cats who consume fur on a regular basis for years…you don’t want to go there!