Laugh Lines for the Week

The first heat wave is in the process of slamming the Northeast ... or at least, northeastern NJ. It's dang hot today, promising a number in the mid-90's, if not higher, lasting for the next several days. We still haven't put our air conditioners in the windows, although Don has told me repeatedly this morning, "We're going to need them ..." I hate them. I don't really care for air conditioning, but my loathing of extreme heat outranks my dislike of fake cool air, so they do eventually go in. I don't like blocking up a window, eliminating a much-needed light source. I don't like having a blocked up window, too, for those days when we don't need the a/c but want fresh air -- one less window to open for circulation. So far it's OK ...

And of course, Grace is sick. One of those hit-and-run viruses ... fine one minute, 101+ the next. That was Thursday -- unfortunately striking in full force just after a little friend came to visit. He left, Grace melted down, fever struck, and our little friend woke up with a fever the next day. Boy, did I feel horrible about that ... No laughing matter, that's for sure. So now I have a little sick girl begging to go on the Slip-n-Slide with her healthy brother ... how in the world do you keep a sick kid indoors, while the other plays outside? I asked Aidan to wait until Grace takes a nap, so hopefully that solution will work.

But on to the humor of the week, despite sickness and the oncoming days of swelter:

- I was upstairs in my mom's kitchen, chatting by the open door, when Aidan decided to go back downstairs to our home. Suddenly I heard bump-bump-bump-bump, in rapid succession ... the sound of someone falling down stairs. My heart momentarily stopped as my head swung in the direction of the stairwell. There was Aidan at the bottom of the first series of steps, one foot on the bottom step, the other on the landing. His body was in a very strange contorted position, leaning far backward, trying to hold on to the railing and balance himself in a wobbly fashion. Phew -- he didn't fall. "Are you OK?" I asked, knowing this could go either way -- a quick brushing off and moving on, or an all-out whine-fest for over-exaggerated (and most likely non-existent) injuries. He was quiet for a moment and then answered,

"Oh, man! That was SO AWESOME! Totally cool! It was like I was FEET-BOARDING!" He was all grins and giggles, so pleased with his feat. What a fun way to describe it, feet-boarding down the stairs ...

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- With Grace sick, lying listlessly on the couch this morning, Aidan ended up by himself outside. That lasted for about 30 seconds. As soon as I popped in a video for Grace, Aidan appeared.

"I need my sister," he said. "I can't play out there by myself. I'm all alone." Well. That sentiment makes my life a whole lot more cumbersome, but at least they adore each other!

So I took a break from the particular chore I was working on and decided to give Aidan a new change of scenery, a distraction. Don needed a prescription from CVS anyway, so we headed down to our little local strip mall to get the meds, as well as look for a bug/door screen at the hardware store. We stopped in Payless Shoe Store for a minute, to see if they had any fun good-for-your-feet flip-flops (they didn't -- just strips of colorful hard plastic, guaranteed to cramp up your feet) and Aidan asked to browse the kids shoes.

"Look, Mommy!" he exclaimed. "These are like the sneakers we bought for me a long time ago! The ones with the mouth on them!"

Mouth?! What in the world are you talking about? I had no idea. He was insistent, it was indeed a mouth (and how stupid of me not to remember!). But I was clueless.

So Aidan picked up a pair of sneakers to show me what he was talking about. "See? This is the mouth!"

It the "C" of the "Champion" brand logo. A mouth? Maybe. Made sense to him!