Personal space - 7/1/07

Here I sit on the couch, breakfast goo on my shirt courtesy of Kyle and Grant, writing a blog entry with Kyle sitting next to me desperately wanting to get his grubby little mitts on the keyboard. Dave and I decided that he has to learn at some point that the laptop is a No-Touch zone even if it's right in front of him. Yeah, good luck to us.

Yesterday was a rough day at our house. LOTS of screaming and crying and just a general got-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-crib kind of day.

Our class at The Little Gym was good; Kyle has gotten better about sitting in the circle when we're singing songs but he sure likes to get out on his own when it's time to get on the equipment. He does not like the teacher to touch him at all, but I suppose I really wouldn't want a stranger manhandling me either. He definitely likes his personal space.

Whereas most parents use a trip to the store to start teaching their preschoolers the concept of money, I'm going to have to teach Kyle how to deal with people who come up behind us in line at the grocery store and pretty much stand on top of you, completely invading any and all personal space you hold dear.
Step 1: Do a triple-take looking behind you at the person, then lean your torso forward with a horrified look of "Dude, you'd better jump back"
Step 2: See how slowly you can pay. Act confused about the process in order to draw out the transaction.
Step 3: When you enter your PIN on the card swipe machine, lay your body across it so your pal behind you can't see. Not that he would look, but you want to clearly communicate, "You must be trying to steal from me since you practically have your chin resting on my shoulder."
Step 4: Do a single-take, crinkle your face and say, "Do you need something?" or say, "Dude, I'm married." Of course, the latter really wouldn't apply for Kyle at this point, or wouldn't apply for me if it's a woman in my zone.

If none of those work, you're just out of luck and your best bet is to move along. Then jump him as he comes out of the store.

Okay, back to yesterday... after Little Gym it was off to Costco which we like because they have shopping carts with two seats so both boys can ride side-by-side. After shrieking almost all the way there, he decided to continue the trend inside Costco which made us quite popular with the other shoppers. I joked with a grandfatherly man in the produce section, "Would you like to take him home?" He laughed and shook his head NO so fast I'm pretty sure he either got whiplash or injured a vertebrae in his neck.

Today the sun is actually shining for the first morning in about two weeks. If I were the complaining type I would mention the steamy humidity but thank goodness I'm not the complaining type! Hopefully a little sun will help everyone's mood around here. Even Dave and I snapped at each other yesterday. Of course that lasted about 90 seconds and we were over it, but I'll blame that on the weather, too. I think we're going to try out the pool at the rec center today.

Dave made awesome fried rice last night - mushrooms and the chicken-apple sausage that jumped in our cart Costco (funny how random obscure things like to come home with us sometimes). He's hit some major homeruns lately and I told him that if I weren't already married to him, I'd be inclined to take the leap based solely on his cooking.

Gotta go clean my closet. Yippee.
MJ