Hello Kitty, Happy Birthday May 7, 2008

A has a thing for Hello Kitty. To be fair, our family has a thing for A liking to draw Hello Kitty. It started before I showed up on the scene. A’s son T will sometimes ask A if he will draw Hello Kitty like he used to…evidentially, this used to be one of A’s past times and he ended up getting quite good at it. So, with this request, I kicked it up a notch at Christmas when I was in the library and passed Hello Kitty Haikus staring at me. I checked it out, wrapped it up and gave it to A as a gift. T and J laughed so hard, but the joke had to be explained to A because he conveniently forgot that he was quite the Hello Kitty artist. I thought it was even funnier that he had to return the book to the library!

So, this is the context in which I was at Dairy Queen last Friday night looking for A’s prized ice cream cake. (Unfortunately for me, he doesn’t really like real cake and has requested an ice cream cake for two years in a row.) I searched the first two cases up and down for a cake that was interesting beyond old man Happy Birthday. I was beginning to pick which of the stupid cakes I would get when low and behold the third case held a beautiful Hello Kitty staring directly AT ME with those eyes of hers as if knowing that she WAS the cake for A. So, I bought it and walked out with a smile that only Hello Kitty could provide.

The whole experience was tinged with sadness since I knew T would not be with us this weekend to share in this joke that he really could have appreciated! He would have loved the joke! I’ll share these pictures with him when we see him next.

The wonders never cease around here… May 7, 2008

Tonight, J and I read through his Ranger Rick magazine before bed. This month’s issue features caterpillars which was very interesting to me because J’s class just released the butterflies they grew from caterpillars. Anyway, I cannot remember how the subject came up, but J starts telling me about how the other day at school he picked up a garter snake. (He is telling me this in the same EXACT way he told me that they were studying desert ecosystems.) I thought he was lying, so I grilled him.

Mom: Where at school are there garter snakes?    J: In the grass, near the fence.

Mom: Who was with you?     J: My guy friends.

Mom: How did you know garter snakes don’t bite.    J: I read books about snakes ALL the time! (This was news to me despite the fact that I got a look like are you stupid or something when I asked.)

Mom: What color were they?   J: Black with a yellow stripe. (When he answered this one correctly, I was sure he was telling the truth and my jaw literally dropped.)

J: What is the problem?

Mom: This is just something that I thought you would’ve told me about the day it happened, so it is hard to believe.

J: It isn’t my problem if you don’t believe me, but I’m not lying.

Mom:  Do the teachers know about the snakes?    J: Yes. Get away from the snakes!! (Jack’s imitation was quite good.)

Mom: Who else picked up the snake?   J: No one else. *Thinking hard* Well, no one when I was there.

Mom: How did you pick up the snake?  J: (Two hands out about one foot from one another in a grasping motion.)

Mom: How did you put down the snake? Did you drop it or throw it?   J: No, I put it down gently. I always teach my friends being good to nature, and snakes are like part of nature. (YES he said like.)

Mom: You never cease to amaze me.    J: It’s not my fault.

So, I give up! It doesn’t really bother me that he picked up a snake. What bothers me and makes me so sad is that all this happened, and he didn’t think to tell me. I am losing him to the world of friends and school and all that exists outside and away from me. I HATE having it slapped in my face.