February’s Gone

Merry Friday, y’all!  I can’t believe March is here already.  It’s a lovely, misty, mornin’ here in Middle Tennessee, the kind of weather I adore.  You know, as long as it’s not every day.  Here’s the view outside my office:

Now y’all know I don’t believe in the supernatural, but the reason I love cool, gray, misty weather is it makes it feel as if anything could happen, as if the border between the real and the unreal is thinner and more permeable than on a bright, sunny day.  I dunno.  Maybe I watched too many episodes of The Twilight Zone as a kid or read too many horror, fantasy, and sci-fi stories.

February may be the shortest month, but this one had its share of memorable moments.  The Girl has been serving it up right on the volleyball court.

The Boy made me laugh and cheered me up when I was feeling grumpy one night.  It had been a long day at work. I was tired and frustrated. I was in the kitchen preparing the kids’s lunches for the next day a few minutes after 8:00 and shortly after sternly instructing The Boy to brush his teeth and get into bed with the extra admonition that he’d better not still be awake at 9:00 as he had the previous 3 nights when suddenly I detected a presence lurking just outside the kitchen so turned to my right.

Me: (sighing) What is it, son?

The Boy: Dad, I’m not sleepy. I won’t be able to go to sleep if I don’t play for a while then read.

Me: You should be sleepy after being up so late all week. Now go to bed. If I catch you playing, reading, or even wiggling around in 15 minutes, no electronics for the rest of the week.

The Boy: Dad, I’m not a normal kid. It takes me a long time to go to sleep.

Me: …

The Boy: I’m sorry, Dad, I’m just not like other kids.

Me: I know you’re not normal, son. You and your sister are wonderfully abnormal and we love you both for it. But you’ll be going to sleep with an abnormally sore butt if you don’t go to sleep NOW!

The Girl got lit while staying after school every Tuesday preparing her National History Day project for the Regionals round.  The string of LEDs wrapped around her torso was strung up inside the large cardboard castle she & her teammates made.

Of course both kids got plenty of Valentine cards & CandyGrams, but The Boy received two particularly poignant messages.  The first one requires a bit of setup.  He is not the most motivated student in his class and, if the lesson he’s working on doesn’t particularly interest him, he’s easily distracted.  His wonderful teacher, having recognized that quirk of his, made him his own little study nook, where he can go sit and draw a curtain around himself to help him focus.  It worked really well for a while, until The Boy, who loves to read (I have no idea where he picked up that trait), realized he could sneak books into his nook and read instead of working.  It didn’t take Teacher long to catch on, especially after another student, curious as to what he was doing one day, peeked behind his curtain then felt it was her duty to rat him out.  Here’s her Valentine’s message to him:

According to Teacher, this saucy young lady had been prohibited from giving out Valentine’s cards but managed to sneak messages into several students’ backpacks when no one was watching.  Teacher apologized to us.  I have no idea why.  We thought the message was hilarious.  I mean, it’s certainly true!

This much sweeter card was from a girl in The Boy’s Tae Kwon Do class who is his current not-so-secret crush.  Here’s the cover:

And the inside:

Ain’t it just the sweetest?  Thank the gods for kids!

So how’re y’all doin’?  Has 2019 been good to you so far?  Any memorable moments you’d care to share?  How do you feel about misty, gray days?

Take care, be well, and have a wonderful weekend, y’all!

Love,

Denny

–Via Ragtag Daily Prompt for Friday, 3/1/19, “March”