House guest

Rascal’s class mascot, Larry, spent a recent weekend with us. As part of Larry’s visit, we kept a diary of all the fun he had with our family, and the diary was then shared with the entire class on Monday morning. Even though we did this assignment two years ago with Doodlebug, we apparently still have much to learn. A few take-away lessons this time around:

1.) It’s super cute to take Larry to piano lessons with you. It makes your child seem exceptional and your family artsy and sophisticated.

2.) It’s very cool to take Larry on a nature hike. It makes your child seem adventurous and your family earthy and laid-back.

3.) It’s not so cool to write in the diary that during the nature hike Larry saw a “dead squirrel with maggots crawling out of its guts.” It makes your child seem creepy and your family thoughtless and disturbed.

Maybe by the time Smiley hits kindergarten we will have the drill down properly.

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Should I offer to pay for a tattoo?

We’ve got a new problem with Rascal. Every morning before school he insists on slicking his hair back all proper like. He even uses, gasp, a comb. No more messy-headed Austintatious hair. As I’m sure you understand, I’m having a really hard time accepting this.

Long before I had children I vowed not to interfere with things like hairstyles and fashions. There are bigger things to worry about, right? I promised myself I wouldn’t go ballistic when he opted for a mohawk or dreads, but this…?

Well, let’s just say I never promised he could run around looking like Alex P. Keaton. Totally unacceptable!

The next thing you know he’ll want to vote Republican.

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