Weekend Adventures

It is clear to see that I have not even cracked the surface on ways this child can cause me stress. Let us just start with Saturday, a lovely spring day. We were all together as a family with no places to go or errands to run, which pretty much happens twice a year. At about noon, I was deeply involved with making a display about Jonas for his class that was due Monday. Brian was relaxing on the couch. Jonas and Hailey were watching High School Musical for the 20th time, and Caleb was quiet. Too quiet. Know this, if there is quiet in this house for more than five minutes, you know someone is up to something that they shouldnt be. I asked Brian if he has seen Caleb. I got the sinking feeling he was outside. The dog we are dog sitting was no where to be found either. We jumped up and raced around the house. Not there. We raced out to the backyard and the pond. No kid there. We ran around to the front yard where I see a woman staring at something down the street. Now, in case you don't know, we live on a fairly busy street where people drive way too fast. At this point my heart was at my throat. Brian booked it, and because he can run a heck of a lot faster than me, I didn't catch up to him until he is on his way back. With Caleb, wearing a sparkly ballet shoe and one of Jonas' boots. And the dog on a leash. From THE PARK. Across the street. 10 houses down. We asked him, "What were you doing?!" and he looked at us like we were complete idiots and said, "take cocoa for walk". Oh duh, sorry. You go on ahead, Caleb. Sorry to have disturbed you. Just go ahead and hitch a ride home when you feel the urge. So we got home and I was cleaning up, waiting for Child Protective Services to knock on my door any time, when I heard Caleb calling to me from downstairs. It is at this moment that I remembered I left a bottle of BLACK INK within his reach. The lid is screwed on of course, but since when has something like a lid deterred this child from trouble? I run down stairs to see Caleb wearing my bottle of ink. Also wearing ink, was the fabric covered dining room chair, the hardwood, and some carpet. I spent half an hour in the shower scrubbing him down, and the ink has nearly disappeared from his face, but it has pretty much tattooed onto his stomach and legs. Just a lovely little reminder of one of the most fabulous weekends ever. (insert sarcasm here). I was still reeling from it this morning when I weighed myself and saw that I have lost 7 pounds this week. And I would bet most of those pounds were probably shed chasing him. So now I see that having Caleb around is like trading pounds for peace. And so far today, I am OK with that.