WARNING: This post contains poop and pee references. Reader discretion is advised.
So many mornings when I bring Donny to our bed to wake him up, I joke with Mike, "I think we'll just stay here all day. Have fun at work." And usually, once the kid wakes up, he wriggles away from me and runs downstairs to have breakfast with Daddy. Today was my first Saturday in MONTHS when I had nothing planned and the kid could not get enough of me. I was getting climbed on, kissed, hugged, pulled away from the kitchen into the front room to sit on the couch with him, even followed into the bathroom. It was very sweet but even in the middle of that sweetness I was thinking, "Uh oh." No temperature, tho, and he seemed happy. Very odd.
Well, it all made sense when we got alllll the way to Phipps and the kid had a major bout of diarrhea. To the point where I thought, "Its warm. He can walk home in his underwear." And, "Maybe they sell kids pants in the giftshop--I mean, I know they sell tshirts..." I cleaned the poor kid up and did something I never do unless its desperate: I called Mike at work. He got the go-ahead to leave work, take us home, and got back to finish up. Perfect except the brakes went out on his car. On Negley Hill. Luckily he was able to put it in park and use the emergency break to avoid killing himself or anyone else. This being Pittsburgh, the guy who stopped to help him turned out to be friends with one of Mike's friends from a different band and he offered to drive to Phipps, get Donny and I, and then drive all of us home to Polish Hill. Mike had to go to the Pharaoh Sanders show for work and he ended up throwing himself upon the mercy of the busway to get downtown. Lord help us all.
Oddly, this is also the night I tried to teach Donovan how to pray. I ordered a couple books of prayers and blessings for children for him from the UU suggested reading list. The one I like the most, "A Prayer for a Child" has one lone Jesus reference thrown in at the end but the pictures are so good and its a simple exercise in being thankful. So tonight he blessed alot of people after he crawled into bed but before he laid down. I'm hoping the prayer thing will help him be a little less feral. Not so much feral in the ripping squirrels apart with his teeth sense, but less feral in that he can use other parts of his brain, so he can access thankfulness and empathy. I know its in there but its not very spontaneous.
And in case the whole praying thing freaks you out, you might like to know that Donny and I spent about an hour in the front room listening to my classic rock mix and spaz dancing. He really got into "Under Over Sideways Down" and Zeppelin's version of "Walking the Floor." He was'nt too sure about Mott the Hoople but he really liked saying "All The Way to Memphis."
Amen.
