October 29, 2004
We're just back from a successful trip to the library. One of the silver linings to the car having blown up on us is that Mom loaned us their "extra car" (my stepdad has a little Honda that he drives back and forth to work to avoid paying out the wazoo for gas for the gas-guzzling pickup truck, not that this is relevant but I'm in a sharing mood today) to get Keith back and forth to work. We got our own car back yesterday, but we haven't returned Mom's yet, so for a couple of days we're a two-car family. So, I took the kids to the library.
There was no screaming, shrieking, running away, yelling, hitting, slapping, or temper tantruming. It was great. And I also have to tell you about Zeke's new computer skills.
In the children's section, they have all these computers set up with children's computer games on them. They have little sign-up sheets where you record your start time, because you're not supposed to use the computer for more than 30 minutes to give other kids a chance, but I've never seen all of them in use any time we've been there. (We tend to go to the library early in the day.) So I'll let Zeke hop up and mess around with the Maisy game or the Sesame Street Learn About Letters game, or whatever. When we first started doing this, a month or so ago, he was totally stymied by the mouse and couldn't figure out how to make it do what he wanted.
Well, today he was mousing like a pro. I kid you not. For example, there's one segment of the Sesame Street game where you click the picture of a phone, and then it shows you Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and Mr. Snuffleupagus. You click the person you want to talk to, and then the phone rings and you hear a little conversation with whoever you called. Zeke clicked the phone, saw the characters, and clicked on Oscar. After Oscar hung up, he clicked the phone again, and then clicked Big Bird. Then after that, he clicked the phone again, and picked Snuffy. It was very deliberate. He wanted to hear all the characters in order. This is like light years beyond where he was at a month ago with mouse skills, so I was totally impressed.
In other kid news, we had "Beggars' Night" here last night -- no, I don't know why the entire city does it four days early; I don't make the rules -- and Keith took Stazi and Zeke out on a candy-finding expedition while I stayed on the porch and handed out candy to the hordes of kids that came trooping by. Well, hordes of kids and also suspiciously old-looking high school students. Keith thought maybe they were college freshmen. They were all wearing goth costumes, as though they were trick-or-treating on their way to a Kindred: the Embraced vampire role playing game. I told them happy Halloween and gave them a Butterfinger anyway. They were very polite.
Zeke was totally ecstatic about getting treats, and has been pretty okay with the treat rationing we've been doing in order to make sure he doesn't go into a sugar coma. He is also very happy that he gets to put on his Elmo costume and do the whole thing again on Sunday, which is when they're doing trick-or-treating in his grandma's neighborhood.
Pictures will ensue once I upload them. I promise.
Posted by Jan at October 29, 2004 1:45 PM