Hello my friends, and a very happy June weekend to you. Got any big trips planned this summer? I’m heading to my cousin’s Milwaukee wedding in July, can’t wait… then taking Jonathan to college in Birmingham in August. Other than THAT, we’re staying local. Read on today about my Charlie’s fantastic summer dreams…. Yep, that’s what they are…. dreams.

Let’s face it. Kids can get bored during the summer. And I’m just not that mom who rushes around entertaining them every five minutes.

Sure we have our daytrips, camps, library trips, and sometimes a week or two of vacation. One year we even swapped houses cross-country with friends. That was a real adventure.

So when school ends, I ask the kids to make a list of things they want to learn, places to go, friends to connect with over the summer. I like getting ideas, learning what’s on their radar, their expectations etc.

Yes, it’s good to know what’s going on in their heads.

I remind them these are ideas, not guarantees.

Last summer there were no big vacation plans on the calendar yet, just a few day trips. The older kids wrote their lists and e-mailed them to me:

• a day at the beach
• basketball at the courts
• hanging out with friends
• Six Flags
• buying vacation cereal (they love picking out junk cereal for vacation)

But one list was still in process.

He sat at the kitchen counter for nearly an hour, focused. Crayons, markers, colored pencils in a jumble around him.

“Ready for lunch yet?”

“Nope, busy.”

He shielded his paper, but I’d already spied the grids, boxes and graphs. He turned it over and labored a while longer. Finally he exhaled dramatically. “Done!” and handed it to me.

I started reading.

Places I want to go

• Walt Disney World
• Beach
• Cedar Point
• Toys “R” Us at Times Square
• Funspot
• Alnwick Garden Treehouse
• Ocean Dome
• Northern Lights

• Grand Canyon
• Paricutin Volcano
• Victoria Falls
• Mount Everest

My eyes grew big as saucers. The kid doesn’t aim high or anything.

I read on:

• Great Barrier Reef
• Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• Statue of Artemis at Ephesus
• Colossus of Rhodes
• Great Pyramid of Giza
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Machu Picchu
• Petra
• Taj Mahal
• Great Wall of China
• Chutters*

No joke, that’s exactly what he wrote, and in that order. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was Bill Gates’ bucket list. I hadn’t even contacted a travel agent, but I was already exhausted and broke. Clearly I wouldn’t be making a dent in my summer reading list any time soon. I read on.

Things I want to buy:

• Pop rocks
• Rock candy
• Bike helmet

OK….that sounds more do-able.

Instruments I want to play:

• Drum set
• Hand drums

(Maybe now was a good time to invest in ME — a pair of high end noise canceling ear phones.)

Other things I like:

• Cooking
• Weapons

WEAPONS???? I flinched.

With a graph all its own:

• Shuriken
• Swiss army knife
• Bazooka
• Rifle
• Bee-bee gun

OH YES! For safety sake, insurance purposes, and shut eye at night…. it’s wise to inquire about what’s going on inside their heads.

The list went on.

• Shotgun
• Pistol
• Sword
• Dagger
• Bow and arrow
• Hypodermic needle

“HYPODERMIC NEEDLE?” I gasped aloud.

“Yes Mommy, and I know how to spell it too.” He spoke truth, it was spelled correctly.

“You didn’t even know how to spell hypodermic when you were eight, did you Mommy?”

Silence.

“So Mommy, are we going to all the places?”

“Ummm…”(long pause).

“Your dad and I will talk it over and get back to you.”

And then, nervously, “What exactly is a shuriken?” I said.

“A Ninja weapon. From the Hardy Boys book. Don’t you even know anything about Ninja weapons, Mommy?”

No. No I don’t. And I hope I don’t find out any time soon, either.

Moral of the story: There’s an opportunist in every bunch.

And he can just Dream On…

(And I look forward to that relaxing day at the beach. With him. Minus his Seven Wonders of the World Children’s Encyclopedia.)

*Chutters is a unique candy store in Littleton, New Hampshire boasting the longest candy counter in the world – 112 feet. And he did make it to Chutters last summer. There and the beach.

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As a first-time mom, I wanted to be prepared. So when a seasoned mom mentioned “valuable advice”, I leaned in.

“There’s a phrase you’ll need in your mental back pocket,” she said. “Because you never know when you’ll need it next. Memorize this: I’m so sorry, we’re Still Working On Our Manners.”

I couldn’t imagine my precious sweetness ever being offensive. Then again, he wasn’t really talking much yet, so things might change. Possibly. Lacking conviction, I repeated the words to myself several times, just in case.

My, how things can change. Just a few months later we practically collided into a man exiting the restroom at Chik-Fil-A. Still tucking in his shirt, he unsuccessfully tried to cover his large belly. My now loquacious toddler rudely blurted:

“Whatcha doin’ hidin’ that big ole’ tummy under there?”

My cheeks burned. Oh for a trap door! But I managed to regurgitate my rehearsed line on cue.

“I’m so sorry, we’re Still Working On Our Manners.” Phew! Onward, forward.

The following spring, my husband transformed our dilapidated wrap-around porch, replacing the railings and painting the doors a cheery red. We hung baskets of impatiens and lined the steps with potted annuals.

Our cousins stayed with us for a week that summer and we passed long, pleasant hours on the porch. Their vacation regretfully over, we gathered for our goodbyes. As they backed down the driveway, I heard a trickling sound.

Glancing down, I spied bare cheeks peeking from under a Thomas-the-Tank-Engine t-shirt, Superman underoos pooled around two little bare feet. A stream was arcing off the porch into a pot of red geraniums.

“WHAT…..are you DOING?” I gasped, a phony smile plastered on my face as I continued waving (weakly) to our guests. Their car inched slowly forward, the passengers absorbing the porch scene with interest.

“Just watering the flowers, Mommy.”

Fifteen years plus three more boys later, and we’re Still Working On Our Manners.

(And we may be for some time.)

Another laugh: Every Time a Bell Rings

The post Still Working On Our Manners appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

I love stories, especially true ones. Charlie and the Ant is one of my favorites. You can imagine Charlie loves hearing it too. He turns nine this coming Tuesday, and sometimes his birthday coincides with Mother’s Day.

A little Mother’s Day indulgence for me today, finally publishing this story. Hope you smile. And a fabulous Mother’s Day to all you wonderful moms out there!

Charlie and the Ant by allie taylor

The growing Mt. Everest heap under the laundry chute was an embarrassment. Early one Saturday I finally rolled up my sleeves and did business, washing and drying the whole lot. But what I really dreaded? The sorting. The folding. The missing socks!

Charlie was just a little guy then, still a baby. I sat him down next to the mountain of clean clothes with a rattle, “Good Night Moon” and his passy. And that kept him busy. (For about a minute.)

The laundry stacks grew, and suddenly Charlie’s eyes brightened like Christmas. He zig-zagged lickety-split toward something. Something alive. It was black and shiny and possessed six wriggly legs. An ant!!!

Yay, I thought cheerfully, relieved he’d not yet reached that all important pincer grasp milestone. Yes, just the thing… a pet ant to occupy him. Fascinated, he busily tracked the ant for several minutes while I was making a sizable dent in the laundry pile.

And then in a flash, the unthinkable happened. The ant was nowhere to be seen. Motivation must be key to mastering that pincer grasp. Because the ant was now captive.

In Charlie’s MOUTH!

I should have left well enough alone. I know that now. Extra protein is good, and he was so happy.

(The baby, not the ant.)

But I didn’t leave well enough alone. I freaked, and then shrieked. I’m sure they heard it in Tulsa.

And so he howled too, just as his daddy walked in the door for lunch.

“WHAT is going on in here?”

And then his Daddy laughed and laughed.

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