Category Archives: kids

kids

The Chatterbox

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I was forcibly reminded of just how out-going and talkative third grade girls can be today. I had just finished mowing the lawn when the door bell rang and a young woman from down the street and her daughter were at the door. Of course Molly was going wild hoping to get petted, the daughter was in heaven to spot a new dog to play with, and we adults were just trying not to get trampled in the ensuing brouhaha.

The mother had remembered that I used to be the mayor and was hoping I could tell her who to see to solve a problem at one of the grade schools. I had to disappoint her and tell her that it was something that the school district would have to fix if it was possible to fix. (The issue was traffic in the pick-up lane at an elementary school. But the pick-up lane is actually on school property and exempt from municipal traffic laws.)

I gave her the names of a couple of people that might be able to assist with the problem  and then we visited for a bit. All the while her daughter was chattering on and playing with the dog. From the very talkative third grader I learned all sorts of information in the form of a continuous monologue in my other ear. Mom and daughter stereo if you will.

From the daughter I learned:

  • She was in the third grade.
  • She likes dogs.
  • Her dog liked to chase squirrels and birds too.
  • Her dog had recently died.
  • What was my dogs name?
  • She liked my dog, especially her big bushy tail.
  • When they moved here, her mom gave her other dog away since they couldn’t bring the dog with them and OMG, she didn’t tell her about what she had done until after they were moved and that was just so wrong of mom.
  • She likes to play basketball, did I?
  • She would really like a basketball hoop like the one on the side of our driveway.
  • Was I really sure I wouldn’t like to play basketball.
  • Did I know her dog had died.
  • Could Molly come and play with her sometime.
  • Did I like mowing the grass? Her dad just hated to mow the grass.
  • Why was my yard bigger than her yard?
  • Did Molly have any toys to play with outside/

I’m sure I could have learned any number of other facts, but mom had to get back since she had left dad in charge of the baby. You just never know what your are going to learn when you open the door around here.

kids, melt down

Sometimes You’re Just ….

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Sometimes you’re just so happy that you aren’t at a certain stage in your life any longer. I was reminded of that tonight as Mom, Mom’s friend R (who is 93 or more) and I ate supper at a local restaurant. The place was relatively deserted for a Saturday night since this is state basketball finals season. (The local school district has two high schools in its ~1,500 sq. mi. area. One is in one of the smaller athletic classifications and the other is a couple of rungs from the top classification. Both schools’ teams are in their respective championship brackets.)


As we were visiting and waiting for our food to arrive, an extended family that had been at one of the playoff games came in and were seated a ways from us. The group consisted of grandpa and grandma, mom and dad, and three young boys all of whom appeared to be under the age of five. It had obviously been a long day and, from the fan paraphernalia they were wearing, they were from the school that is about 20 miles from here. That meant they probably had another 45 minutes of travel to get home. Thus they had stopped to eat since it was already past 7pm; the boys had obviously had a long day of cheering and excitement, etc. They were laying their heads on the table and trying to curl up into mom and dad and grandma’s laps from the time they sat down.

When their food arrived, the boys perked up and dug in, but they were done eating in five minutes. After a few minutes for the food to sink in, it was clear they all desperately wanted to be home and in bed. That’s when I spotted that haunted look of fear on mom and dad’s faces. They knew that total melt-down was only a stray glance away. Mom and dad started eating fast, trying to get their food down before Armageddon broke out before their very eyes. I remember that feeling from when the Son was a little guy. And I was so happy that phase had come and gone. It was evident that Mom was having similar thoughts as well. We looked at each other and just grinned as we realized what that mom and dad were feeling.

You know that feeling. The one that comes over you when you know that despite your best efforts and well laid plans, your are going to have a screaming and utterly disconsolate piece of humanity on your hands with no possible solution in a few moments. Yes that one, the one where you have fantasies of the earth swallowing you whole just so you don’t have to go through it again.

At the same time, grandpa and grandma are oblivious to the impending disaster. They are beaming with pride at the three little angels as they s-l-o-w-l-y eat their meals and try to engage mom and dad in conversation. Mom and dad are frantically exchanging looks with each other and then the tops of the boys heads. Dad has even taken to rolling his pancakes up like a burrito in order to get them down faster. Mom has her purse on her shoulder ready to bolt out the door at the first sign of friendly fire in the upcoming battle.

Then it happens. One of the boys slides to the floor from his chair, causing one of his brothers to knock over a water glass, and the wailing is on. Dad grabs one boy, mom the other, but nothing they can do quiets the banshee wails coming from the two. The third brother has decided to burnish his angel status a little and is calmly telling grandma that see, he is a good boy and should get to go home with grandma and grandpa, unlike his brothers. Which of course is designed to set the brothers off even more.

They all get up to leave, the two banshees still wailing. The restaurant owner comes up to the cash register with a big bucket of Tootsie Pops for the boys to pick one. Angel boy does so and says thanks, but the other two just wail louder at seeing the brother with a Tootsie Pop. When last seen, the whole group was wailing its way out the door.

I commented to Mom and R how that was not one of the things I suffered nostalgia about. There are many things from when the Son was young that I remember with great fondness and miss dearly. But the tiredness melt down is not one of them. So when I saw that mom and dad tonight, my heart went out to them. I knew what was going to happen, they knew what was going to happen. They were concerned about disturbing me. And me? I was trying really hard not to laugh since it was someone else’s problem now.

So do you have anything in your life that you are happy you aren’t at that stage anymore?

economy, kids, meeting, reporter

Mid-week lull

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Today was the lull in what otherwise has been and will be a busy week. The walk down to the radio station was cool to cold, depending on how the breeze caught you. Since it was a glorious 15 degrees and the breeze was gusting to 20 mph, I wore my sweat pants. Just a bit too nip for shorts. Drat.

For approximately the 30th time out of the last 255 radio shows, the only live callers were jokers. Today it was the auto parts store I pass on the walk in to the station calling to ask if I had convinced the council to resign so I could sell their council seats. I told them that lord knows I’d tried, going so far as to forcing them all to resign. But then I had to reappoint all the original council members when I couldn’t convince anyone to buy their seats. (Somehow I don’t think there is a huge pent up demand for small town council seats. Oh well.)

I spent about an hour on the phone with a nice reporter from the Associated Press who is going to venture out here to interview me and some of the other community leaders tomorrow. We’re getting some attention because we are bucking the national trend of heading into an downward economic spiral. Because of the wind energy construction, relatively good commodity prices for the farm community, and lowered energy costs, we are actually experiencing some economic growth and a continuing labor shortage. It seems to conspire to make us noteworthy in the current economy. It will be interesting to meet the young lady. I am curious to see what her last name actually is because I haven’t heard it pronounced the same twice. Then after a couple of exchanges of email with outside counsel for the city about some contractual matters, I was free to pursue my own interests. Of course, by then I had a splitting sinus headache, but what more could one ask for.

Tomorrow is clear for most of the morning and then I have a luncheon date with the 5th grade class at the local parochial school. Every year they invite the mayor to come and have chili and cinnamon rolls with them. The shy young gentleman who called this year was a bit tongue tied on the phone. I think it caught him by surprise that I answered the phone. It gives the fifth graders a chance to meet the mayor and ask questions and it gives me a chance to explain how local government works. At that age, the mayor is still a semi-mythical creature that wields unknown powers. It helps to disabuse them of that and start them thinking about how government really works. When the kids reach the seventh grade, we have the “If I were Mayor …” essay contest for all the schools. The entries are judged and awarded scholarship prizes and then passed on to the Colorado Municipal League contest of the same name.

After the lunch, I have the meeting with the AP reporter and then a couple of other meetings. Oh, and during all this we are interviewing the finalists for the fire chief position. Fortunately I don’t have a lot to do with that process right now. In the evening I have the local community college Christmas gala and then finally I am done for the day. And speaking of being done for the day …