Oh, my sweet boy. Around 5:52am this morning the little man stumbled into my bedroom. He crawled into my bed, and, as soon as he got his yawning out of the way, he groggily inquired “you wanna play Candyland?” It’s his latest obsession, as they’ve been playing it at school recently. Just last schoolyear I would have thought it impossible, that my child would have acquired the skills and self-control to play a board game, with parents or peers. Last schoolyear he seemed so out of control. At times the idea of medicating him would come up even (I am relieved we didn’t go that route). And while his behavior was never as severe as this poor child’s we have still experienced the occasional shunning by strangers, neighborhood kids, and their crappy parents. Bitter much? Anyhow, this is so HUGE! The little man is getting his impulsivity under control. He understands the rules of gameplay. He’s watching what other players do and waiting for his turn. He doesn’t care who wins or loses. It’s fantastic (and I think we owe much of it to his very small and very fine kindergarten program). This is progress. Leaps and bounds. So after work last night, while I stayed behind to make dinner, the guys ran up to the store to pick up a brand new game for home use. The only thing is…I prefer the artwork from the vintage game. The new one is kinda on the creepy side.
On the drive in to work yesterday I was half-listening to MPR’s Future Tense, while going over a To Do list in my head. John Gordon was talking to Carl Honore, author of In Praise of Slowness: How A Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed. As I listened to him I wondered what he would think of the insanity my life has devolved into. Nearly every weekend until December is already overbooked with activities. And in November I’ll really have done it. I’m going to attempt to write another novel, and continue my Arabic lessons, and keep on working full-time, and be something more than a half-assed mother to the little man, and a wife to the husband, and a human being. Umm, something’s got to give.