quick, between chore post

Well, i have a couple minutes, and just don't feel up to washing another dish or packing another box, but both kids are occupied, so thought I'd stop in and update super-quick.


The house still isn't sold, but there's quite a bit of interest on it. We had an open house, and a couple of people from that were very interested, but both felt the price was too high. It turns out that's the common theme from everyone who expresses a genuine interest in our house. So, we've lowered the price. By $15,000. I know it's a lot, and we aren't very happy about it. But if that's what it takes, so be it. We need it sold, like, yesterday. But I think we're going to be pretty firm, and expect our asking price. I think we've compromised enough for these cheap bastards already.

The kids are doing well, but Joan is sick yet again. she's on day two of a fairly high fever. She can't eat, and does nothing but sleep all day, which is what she's doing now. John has a bad cough, and says he's really sick, but the only evidence is the cough, so I think he's exaggerating. Unless he has bronchitis or something, and I'm just being too hard on him. But he has no fever. He's been in full Dr John mode for Joan's flu. He does little check-ups on her, and prescribes her medicine (Tylenol). He strokes her head while she's taking it, and assures her it won't hurt. It's very cute. He's so funny. He decided he wanted to make everybody chocolate milk the other day, so I got all the stuff out for him, and let him have at it. It was hillarious. He mixed his own perfectly. I got a cup of straight chocolate syrup, with a dollop of milk, and even Joan got a tiny splash of chocolate milk in a little glass. She didn't drink it, but I held the cup up to her mouth, to make him feel good. he was so proud! it took me a while to clean up the gooey chocolatey mess it all created, but it's the thought that counts.

The big concern these days is his attitude towards dad. He's so mad! We've had several conversations like this:

"Are you excited that dad's coming back?"
"No. I'm mad at him."
"Why are you mad at him?"
"He hurt my feelings."
"How did he hurt your feelings?"
"Calgary."

The other night, he wanted to read "I'm a Big Brother" - it's a book he likes about a big brother and his baby sister, that my parents sent for him when Joan was born. The last page is the happy family at the park, and he went through each figure in turn, relating it to his own family.

"Look, mom. There's the John, and that's the baby, and that's the mom. That's like you!"
"And what about that guy over there," I say, pointing to the dad. "Who's that?"
Silence.
"Isn't that the dad?" I ask.
"No. That's a big ugly bug."

The teachers at school mentioned today how incredibly happy he's been lately. I mentioned that he's not like that at home, and relayed some of the things he's been saying about dad,and the anger he's been expressing.
"Ah, we've been wondering when that would kick in," they say.
However, he hasn't said a word about it at school. They think he's probably using school as an escape from the chaos and confusion at home - it's a constant he can rely on. Boy, I hate to pull him out of there! He had cheered up when I first told him about Christmas. He spent the next few days saying how much he loved and missed dad, and how excited he was to see him. But that wore off - I think it took too long for dad to actually materialize, so now he's back to being bitter. We're trying different things to help. Last night, I marked off on the calendar all the days we've passed through so far this month, then circled the day dad gets here. Every day, we'll mark off another day. It seemed to cheer him up. He's seen the video of the new apartment. He seems to like that. "Look, our new bathroom! Look, that's our kitchen!" I've gone online to find him pictures of Calgary. I'm not sure what else to do.

An interesting tidbit - if you're ever in a Zellers, and there's an announcement of a "code yellow" over the PA, it means someone has lost their kid. Discovered that one the hard way. I took John to suit him up with new winter gear - we were trying to hold off until we got to Dryden, but we got a huge, huge snowstorm on Saturday (the day before our open house - figures). So we had no choice. He had a warm jacket, hat and mitts, and Mike's grandma sent him a new scarf that he likes. But he said his boots were too tight, and the school requires snow pants, because they like to take the kids outside, and he had none.

Shoe shopping with John is always a breeze - he loves picking out new shoes. I always try to make sure he's there to pick out his own, because he enjoys it so much. The kids' boot isle had boy's boots on one side, girls' on the other. There was a stock girl there at the moment, and John being John struck up a conversation with her right away.
"Look at all these boots, Girl! They are so beautiful!" he said, waving his arms frantically at all the fluffy pink and purple girl boots. While they chatted, I checked out the selection on the boys' side - only two pairs were going to fit him, which I didn't thinkwas going to be enough selection for him. So my plan was to divert him away long enough to get him to another store - the Sears on the other side of the mall. But before I could, he fell in love with a navy blue number over on the boys' side, with twinkly lights, kangaroos and bright yellow trim. Lucky for me, it happened to be one of the two that would fit. He tried them on, loved them, and refused to take them off again. "Oh Mommy! They're so comfy!" he said.

And of course, they were tied together, and of course he wanted to parade around the store on them, so he spent the next few minutes, while we looked for a register, taking little baby steps so the plastic ties wouldn't trip him. I wound up having to put John on the counter so they could scan the boots with his feet still in them. That happens every time I take him shoe shopping.

The next department was where the trouble started. He didn't like the look of those snow pant things one bit! He was having none of that! So while I was picking out one that would match his jacket, he took off! I tried to follow him, but my stroller is big and they pack those racks in so tight at Christmas, he actually got away.

I asked a nearby employee if she'd seen him. "No. Have you lost a child?" I admitted I had, and suddenly, this mission to get him back was mobilized. "Don't worry," she said, very seriously. "We have Code Yellow." It was surreal. With a flip of her hand, three other people came rushing over to jot down a description. An announcement of a code yellow rang out over the loudspeakers, and the little crowd of workers were dispatched around the store to hunt down my kid. The whole thing took maybe 10 seconds before he was discovered sulking in the candy isle. Then everything returned to normal, as though nothing had happened. It was really something to see!

Now it's winter, and the battle over winter gear has begun. I watch these poor moms trying to wrestle their kids into snow gear day after day, and I've decided I'm not going to go down that road. John's been good - he's even worn his snow pants every day this week without a fuss. But today, he snapped, and refused to put ANYTHING on. So I said, OK. So out he went, into the ice and snow, in socked feet and indoor clothes. I got a few horrified glares from the moms, but the dads who saw had a chuckle and cheered me on. It took about three seconds before he was asking for mittens. We weren't even off the school yard before he was putting his boots on. By the halfway mark, he was fully bundled, completely of his own choosing. No wrestling required, and no frostbitten digits. Probably not something I can do in Calgary - though maybe he'd just get dressed that much faster out there!

Anyway, John is here, and wants to play some games. Better go! I'll try to take some new pictures soon!