home

Three Words

On Sunday afternoon, I took Ane and Little Mo to the nail salon about half a mile from our cul de sac to get pedicures.  Little Mo’s birthday was on Saturday, but Ane had been away at Auntie’s college, watching her play softball (the team won both games, too!) and missed out on the party.  However, the girls were not overly bothered by this, because, as Ane said to me, “If I miss the party, you’ll take us to do something fun later!”  The “something fun” ended up being lemonade and cookies at Panera, followed by pedicures.

After we got back, Ane went to Little Mo’s house to play until it was time for us to head over to Friend and Doc’s house for dinner.  Tad wanted to know where his sister was, and I told him.

When it was time for us to go, Tad got on his shoes and his coat and walked out the door.  Usually, he goes straight to the car.  But when the Webmaster and I walked outside to put Rerun in the car, there was no sign of Tad.

“Do you see him?”  I asked the Webmaster.

“No.  Where do you think he is?”  the Webmaster asked me.

“Probably at Little Mo and Big Jay’s,” I said.  As soon as I said that, my cell phone chirped.  A text message had just come in from Little Mo’s Dad.  It said, “Tad is here.”

Sighing, I walked down the cul de sac to their house, which is all of two doors down.  And there was Tad, shoes and socks off (but coat still on, even though it was easily 65 degrees), jumping on the large trampoline in their backyard with Ane and Little Mo.

“Hi Mama!  I jumping!”  Tad called cheerily to me.  Little Mo’s Dad just smiled.

“Tad!  Get down here!”

He reluctantly climbed down, and came over to me.  I sat him down and started to put his shoes and socks on.  “Buddy, I didn’t know where you were!  You didn’t ask me if you could come down here!”

Tad looked at me with a confused expression, and said, in a clearly puzzled voice, “I didn’t ask?”

I hung my head.  As I later said to the Webmaster and a few other people, those three words pretty much sum up our lives with Tad.

“No, bud.  You didn’t ask.  And I am NOT happy.”

I guess I should be grateful that I knew where he had probably gone, and that he is not a kid who will just wander off without knowing where he is going.  He knew where his sister was, so he went to go get her.  Still, it’s his lack of impulse control and his inability to process consequences that make these situations so frustrating.  I’m glad that he has calmed down significantly and is very attached to me, otherwise we would be having to close the front yard gates to keep him in, as we used to when he was Rerun’s age.

I wish there was a way to make him stop and think.

Comments are closed.