Rollin' with my Homies..

As you can see, it’s been a bit of a lazy day around the house for some of us. I’m at the tail end (I hope) of my cold or whatever it was – Unfortunately, last night I lost my voice which is super annoying since I can’t give any directions or get after anybody who is misbehaving (Tayne or Troy)- You really never notice how much you say in a day until you can’t speak. – No drive thru food, or pre-pay gas for us today, which was ok because I couldn’t holler at Tayne if he got away from me so I didn’t want to go on any extra outings. Phone issues weren’t too bad either; we don’t get many calls & with caller id and voice mail I could at least hear what I was missing, also with the wonder of cell phones I could just text if I really had to get a message across. I thought I had it pretty much all figured out … then 3pm rolled around and that school bus dropped off Tayne’s new best friend –the kid next door . Not only does he actually live right next door, he’s also the archetype kid next door – the one who’s always standing technically out of the road, but with that look that makes you afraid he’ll leap behind your car as you are backing out of the driveway, the one who when you see him outside he’s standing around not really doing anything wrong, but in a way that makes you peek out your window to see what he’s really doing when he doesn’t know you are watching (yep, still nothing much…) - basically he’s the one that makes you mutter, “stupid kid” or “I’m glad that’s not my kid” – normally not a bad thing in a neighborhood –who doesn’t begrudgingly accept a Dennis the Menace even if it’s just so you won’t remind yourself of that grumpy Mr. Wilson, but now it’s my kid standing right next to him and his ill conceived ideas – I know, wonderful huh, but that’s boys growing up for you, I guess. I can take it in stride, but it does require a change from my regular policy of preconceived notion and apathy about what goes on outside from 3:30 to 5pm to a more proactive one consisting of direct attention, covert surveillance, and the occasional addition of a “new rule” to stop incredibly stupid or potentially pain inducing behavior ( -ex “New Rule –We don’t throw sticks directly up in the air and look straight up while trying to catch them.”). As you can imagine, having no voice made this afternoon particularly exciting – luckily Pallas was sweet enough to sleep and not need too much, and Tayne was kind enough to come back to the porch when I waved him over for “new rules” (Today’s new rules??? - “We don’t cross the street or run around the neighborhood without shoes on. “ and “If you want to look at plants in other people’s yard, look at the plants at the vacant house that has been for sale for over a year, not the identical plants at the house where the guy is a landscaper and actually cares what his yard looks like…” –([unspoken] stupid kids! ) – Ugh! I hope I get my voice back soon!