November 02, 2007
On the Virtue of Having One's Head Sewn to One's Neck
We are walking across a parking lot. I am holding Eli's hand, and carrying Isaiah. Caleb has hold of the hem of my shirt. This is how we do parking lots. The wife is close behind. Suddenly she stops. "Where is Isaac?" she asks in a panic. That boy is forever wandering off, after all.
"Um, you're holding him."
She looks down at the boy whose arms and legs are wrapped around her trunk like he is a Koala bear. He grins up at her. She chuckles, that I-may-well-be-losing-my-mind laugh that is increasingly common in our house.
It may be time for a vacation.
Posted by Woodlief on November 02, 2007 at 07:57 AM
Having seven children I have done something similiar a time or two, or three...
Posted by: a mom at November 2, 2007 8:11 AM
Yes, that is a particularly good "snapshot of the mental illness whose source is children"; it's also one that most families with more than two children seem to have at least one of (or very similar) at some point... We haven't had one just yet, so I suppose I'm still looking forward to it.
Posted by: Deoxy at November 2, 2007 8:18 AM
I feel your pain....happens way too often for me!
Posted by: angela at November 2, 2007 11:45 AM
Ha! I was there to witness a blog post in the making! cool!
Posted by: Ann at November 2, 2007 4:51 PM
YES,it's time. Come home.
Love you all, Debbie
Posted by: debbie at November 3, 2007 3:13 PM
I can see that happening to me. Daily. Which is why we have a slightly different system. We do the "ducks in a row" method. In parking lots, all four of mine hold hands, with the youngest holding my hand. Each child is responsible for "sounding the alarm" if the child next to them deviates from the plan in any way.
Instead of this being a burden, they seem to relish the prospect. Its like I have a herd of "Dirty Harrys". I keep expecting one of the boys to say "Go ahead, punk, Make. My. Day." Except that, of course, they aren't allowed to watch anything at all with Clint Eastwood :)
Posted by: Lucy at November 4, 2007 8:26 AM
My husband wanders off from time-to-time, leaving me looking for him, must be a guy thing.
Posted by: Mary Ann at November 8, 2007 5:57 PM
It's especially annoying when you discover you are nursing the child you think is missing....
Posted by: Lyn at November 11, 2007 2:29 PM
Post a comment
