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Journal Key:

Green = Steve | George = navy | Janet = Purple | Evelyn = Black

8/15/14 (Friday)

Camilla came to sleep over! The most fun part for me was making s'mores in the fire pit after dinner. Owen enjoyed it, too. When we do this, he first runs all over the yard looking for sticks, which he brings back and throws into the fire. He has nothing to do with marshmallows, but he eats a lot more chocolate than we'd prefer and throws many little sticks into the pit.

The girls put on Sleeping Beauty as I was putting Owen to bed. They put it on a little bit loud, so it kept him from going to sleep. He came out to see what the noise was, and I relented and let him stay up and snuggle on the couch for the rest of the movie. I drew the line when he asked whether he could color.

8/17/14 (Sunday)

Aunt Claire came up today. The kids actually literally spent all day in their pajamas. At Claire's suggestion, we went to the basement to play Lego Star Wars. For the first time, Owen wanted to play.

It was interesting, because each player needs both the Wii remote and the nunchuk. Owen would hold one, and I would hold the other. Fortunately, I was generally able to steer. He could make us jump, and he could shoot. I kind of basically tried to aim him away from other players. He played a lot more than I'd thought he would!

I should not have been surprised that he also spent time tieing himself up in the wires.

8/18/14 (Monday)

This morning, Owen had a sticker book ready to take to school, but he asked whether he could bring Lion, too. I pointed out that he didn't want Lion to be left at school and suggested, as a compromise, that Lion should just ride in the car and then I'd bring him back home. Of course, when we'd gotten to school, Owen had changed his mind. Fine. We brought Lion.

It turned out to be safari week, so Lion was a very appropriate guest! However, as I was about to leave, Owen changed his mind and wanted his sticker book instead. I decided not to cater to his whim and left Lion to enjoy the safari.

Predictably, we left Lion at school, in Owen's nap bag. Owen was not distressed when we discovered this.

Me: Who will you sleep with tonight?

Owen: All the stuffed animals!!!! Not the small ones.

Me: Ok. Tomorrow, you can tell Lion all about it.

Owen: Well, actually, he doesn't talk, so I don't think I'll be doing that.

Me: Oh.

Owen: He lost his voice. I lost his voice. He lost his voice. . . . I thought I was getting a real lion, with that big curly thing.

Me: A mane?

Owen: Yes, a mane.

We discussed the negative aspects of having an actual real lion as a pet. Later . . .

Owen: Is Camilla coming to sleep over again?

Me: Not for a while. Cara might go and sleep over at Camilla's house.

Owen: I want to go, too!

Me: Well, it's kind of just for girls.

Owen: Okay. . . . but, I just want to go there and ask.

After dinner, at Owen's suggestion, Steve and the kids went downstairs to play more Lego Star Wars.

8/19/14 (Tuesday)

Owen and I had a boys-only evening tonight. Evelyn is off in Pennsylvania and Cara is with her grandparents. It is "safari week" at school. Owen was unable to explain to me what that might mean, but he has been bringing home colored pages with jungle type animals on them. His coloring continues to evolve and improve, and lately he has been getting creative and adding decorations to the animals or coloring new stripes onto them.

When we got home, Owen wandered right down into the basement. We decided he would have a breakfast for dinner meal, so I made him scrambled eggs and pancakes and he watched Ninjago in the basement while he ate. What can beat that, right? Afterwards we played a level of Lego Star Wars. It was interesting because up until now, Owen has typically been one half of one controller, with a responsible adult controlling the other half; but this time we each took our own controllers. Occasionally I had to grab one half of his controller and move his character so we could get to a different room; it sometimes involved my having to move both of our characters at the same time--which, I've discovered, is difficult to coordinate when you're one person.

Bath time was what has become the typical play: Owen imagines he is enacting an episode of a TV show. He gives it a title, and I believe he sometimes does the theme song. Then he demonstrates the plot line, which might involve two guys swapping powers, or a bad guy with mind control. Most of the time now when I try to join, he tells me I'm not doing it right and stops me.

He also likes to use the phrase "old school"--which I'm sure he got from me. It's usually in regards to how one hero or other is the "old school" version. He is already fully aware of artistic reincarnations and "reboots," having experienced multiple versions of various superheroes.

Tomorrow we have already planned to have another night very much like this one, except that dinner may be leftover pizza.

8/20/14 (Wednesday)

We do seem to have developed our own little Daddy-son routine. We came home, had dinner with TV on, then repaired to the basement for a little Lego Star Wars. Owen kept asking which of the two guys on the screen he was (it's confusing when we each have the ability to change to several different characters), and whether that guy was a good guy or a bad guy. This I felt was a somewhat debatable question in many cases. Even if he was controlling a bad guy, did it then follow that he had to act bad, and try to shoot me? Hmm.

We forgot to get Owen a treat tonight until it was too late, so I found myself promising him a trip to Dunkin Donuts tomorrow morning. Oops? I like to think that if I was a single parent for long enough I would become less of a pushover.

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