That was a long weekend…

…and I’m just grateful to be back, hopefully, into a routine I can predict. Well, except that today Eric had an early meeting and missed the bus for it, so he had to take the car; I’m not sure I had anything I needed to accomplish today which would require driving, but you just know that now that it’s not an option, something will arise. Sam is nagging me to walk with him to the bus stop in half an hour, but that’s always a headache, as Gabe tries to tiptoe closer and closer to the curb (it’s a very busy street) and run away from me when it’s time to go home. I dunno. Also, Gabe has decided that the perfect outfit for today is his heavy Christmas sweater from last year, a pair of soccer shorts, and a fedora. I pick my battles, and that one’s all his.

On the other hand, letting Gabe loose might be a good thing today. Witness what he did on Saturday evening at the mall, when a cute shopgirl was flirting with him and giving him doughnuts and little cups of cider:

GABE: “Do you have any pie?”
GIRL (giggling): “No, we don’t have pie. Just doughnuts.”
GABE: “Do you like pie?”
GABE: “Oh, yes! I love pumpkin pie the best.”
GABE: “I’m selling some pies!”

Somehow he remembered what his current preschool fundraiser is. I quickly intervened to say that while his effort was laudable, we weren’t going to drive all the way back down to this mall in Illinois to deliver a frozen pie.

Supposed to be a lovely day today. Hey! Maybe today can be the day I coax my little chicken onto his tricycle and finally persuade him to pedal! I at last have figured out that it’s not so much a confusion about how it works as it is a fear to have his feet off the ground for more than a second. Bribery does scary things to this kid, and not always pleasant ones, but maybe this would be an appropriate venue for it. After all, internal motivation for trike riding can come later; right now, we just need to show him that he won’t face loss of life or limb while riding the thing.