Extra grumpy Reed-o? Here's your solution...

Last Friday, I picked Reed and Amy up from their after-school program and Reed was super grumpy. The playground and gym time he usually is clamoring for ("Can you come back and pick me up later???" is one of the usual refrains) were suddenly no good.

 
We went home and prepared to go out to dinner at Moe's, a local restaurant – they were having a fundraising event for juvenile diabetes research. Reed grumbled and complained, even went down the stairs on his stomach, whining all the way about how he didn't want to go to Moe's (usually a favorite destination).

Eventually we made it to Moe's and the place was crazy crowded and the line was slooooooow. Reed continued complaining. Amy grumbled that it was too loud (which it was). We decided to cut our losses and just make our donation, then go eat somewhere else.

We went to Arby's, where Reed ordered a roast beef sandwich with double meat, and curly fries. Then he ate every single bit. And you know what? Then he was happy.

I have to give Tod credit for figuring this out about Reed a long time ago....if he is super-cranky, really out of sorts, then what he really is is HUNGRY. Give him food and he's like a new kid – well, like his usual self. It's pretty amazing.

Mornings....by Dad

With Reed in 4th grade and Amy in 2nd grade our morning routine works pretty well. The kids mostly get ready on their own, make their lunches and their breakfast. Often we don't talk much. Reed leaves for school when he's ready and then Amy and I walk to school shortly after. She is usually very chatty so it's a nice time. However...we have a little game that makes it memorable. The school librarian, Mrs. Lombardo, always stands at the school side entrance where Amy enters. Almost every day after Amy hugs me goodbye I say, slightly loudly..."Have a great day in Library!" Amy laughs and sometimes gets embarrassed and Mrs. Lombardo seems to like it. Sometimes Amy preempts me by shushing me or saying "blah-blah-blah" or something. But it's fun.

-Dad

Elementary, my dear Watson...

A month or so ago, Reed said he wanted to read Sherlock Holmes. Now mysteries are really not my thing - nothing against them, I just haven't ever gravitated to them. I figured why not, I'll get him the books.

I bought these two Sherlock Holmes compilations, with little clue what was in them. The books are each about 4 inches thick, and the print is really small.

What's turned out to be interesting....well, a few things have turned out to be interesting with our friend detective Sherlock. First is that Reed won't read the books on his own, he prefers to have us read it to him. This is highly unusual - our read-out-loud speed is entirely too slow for Reed 99% of the time. He'd just rather read on his own, so he can get done faster.

Second, these books are hard to read out loud! There are a lot of words that are hard to pronounce, or that we don't know the meaning of. There are lots of footnotes and endnotes in this book. That might be one of the reasons that Reed wants us to read it to him - it's a bit over his head. Heck, it's sometimes over our heads.

The third interesting thing is that both Tod and I have really enjoyed reading the book! Really a surprise to me, probably more than Tod. As I said, I'm not usuallly a mystery reader so it was a pleasant surprise to find the stories so appealing. Turns out there's something to this whole "Sherlock Holmes is a classic" thing.

The final item...well, imagine my surprise as I opened a new chapter to find Sherlock shooting up, and Watson inquiring...

“Which is it today? Morphine or cocaine?”

“It is cocaine. A seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try it?”

Well now. Did not see that coming. Apparently everyone in the world except Tod and me already knew that Sherlock Holmes was a junkie. "Haven't you seen the movies?" they'd ask. Nope, not a one. Never read the books, never saw the movies. Thankfully Reed didn't seem too phased by this (of course, he has no frame of reference here). I just kept on reading and then delivered a "What Sherlock is doing is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY bad" mini-lecture afterward. Holmes' explanation of his drug use is basically that his mind whirs so fast, and when he doesn't have a case, he can't handle the boredom, so he uses drugs. Well now. Just now did a bit of online sleuthing myself and discovered that these drugs were completely legal and commonplace in Holmes' Victorian era - that adds a new wrinkle that I guess we'll need to explain to Reed as well.

Never a dull moment!