Friday morning I got up early and came out here to empty my memory card and get the camera ready for the firetruck visit. I was sitting here in the dark when I heard someone walking through the living room. I turned around to see Sam in his underwear and plastic fire hat. 6:15 in the morning and he was in his fire hat ready to go. He rubbed his eyes and in a groggy voice asked, "When's that fire truck gonna be here?" He only had 2 hours to wait, poor guy.
He was dressed and ready to go before his sisters even woke up a 7, so he watched cartoons with one eye and watched out the window with the other. We heard the dog bark, signalling someone was coming up the drive and he nearly wet his pants. Then we looked out to see his Granny in her blue Buick, not the fire chidf in his red fire truck. Granny came in and beheld the hyper, nervous boy-child of ours and laughed at how cute he was. Then we heard the dog bark again and lo and behold
THE FIRE TRUCK WAS HERE!!!
I grabbed the video camera and hit record. In the distance you can see the truck coming up the drive, but the foreground is filled with the intermittent red plastic fire hat on my son's head, popping up and down as he jumped for joy. I can only imagine what he was feeling at that moment. I know how excited I got over stuff as a kid - it's quite a feeling. As soon as it had pulled in and turned around, the fire chief himself got out. Sam ran out to him and the fire chief said, "Are you Sam?" The plastic hat bobbed up and down as he nodded. "Well, nice to meet you, Sam. I'm the fire chief!" And he shook my little boy's hand, just like he was a real grownup person. I swear to you I saw little cartoon hearts floating up out of my son's eyes. He looked so small next to the chief and his ginormous truck.
I cut the camera off and ran in to grab my digital camera. In that short amount of time Sam was in the truck and getting buckled. No! I still had tons of pictures to take! Slow down, Mr. Fire Chief and Mr. Diva!!
I hollered for Kady to come take a look at the firetruck. The chief was okay with it because he said he was actually running way ahead of schedule and didn't want to get him there too early. So Kady came over to inspect the truck as well.
You can't see them in the picture, but she was wearing red rubber boots with her skirt. She said firemen wear rubber boots and she wanted to as well.
Then the fire chief climbed in and turned on the siren and just let me say that our Jakey did NOT like that one bit. He hunkered down and started to run, then decided he didn't want to look like a pussy so he stood his ground and just howled to beat the band at the big red monster in our yard. Sam thought the sirens were just the coolest thing ever and I think we got hear them three times before it was time to go.
He was the happiest kid on earth that morning.
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Friday was also Camp Bandage at school. They haul the kids to a local community center and they spend the day learning about safety, stranger danger and all kinds of other neat stuff. Fun, but exhausting to young'ns.
THEN, when school was out, Sam went with his "backup best friend" (His words, not mine. He says he plays with Owen when Riley's not there, so that makes him his backup best friend.) to play Laser Tag for Owen's birthday. Those brave, if not somewhat insane, parents took 5 little boys to Laser City and plied them with lots of gun-shooting activities, cupcakes, candy and pizza. I gotta admire them just a little, although I worry about their mental status.
So by the time Sam got home at 8:15 he was wound for sound. I've never seen so much fast talking, bouncing up and down and just plain little boy energy! We knew he was exhausted and that's why he was so wired. TotTwo had been with me all evening, in anticipation of a guy sleepover, - with Kady tagging along - but by the time we got them in from riding their scooters and bikes in the dark front yard, Sam was crashing. So much for watching movies and such. Sam hit bottom hard and it was horrible. There was much crying and whining and laying in the floor and even a little foot stomping. I built them a tent with sheets and dining room table chairs in the toyroom, got out sleeping bags and everything, in an attempt to quell the tears and frustration. But even then he couldn't sleep for all the crying.
Finally I scooped him up out of his Scooby Doo sleeping bag and carried him to the living room, where I piled all three and a half feet of very tired little boy into my lap and for the first time in a very long time, I rocked my baby boy. It was pure heaven. As an infant he didn't like to be rocked. That nearly killed me. Abby would still be rocked if I'd allow it, but Sam was just never much of one for it. Oh, he likes to snuggle, but the rocking thing just never appealed. But that night, he curled up with me and finally the tears slowed, the sobs quieted and his eyelids blinked slower and slower. I would've loved nothing more than for him to actually fall asleep in my lap, but no, in true Sam fashion he popped his eyes open and said, "Yep, I'm ready to go to bed now. That rocking's making me nauseous." I love that kid so much.
Saturday morning, all three of those little shits were up at 5am. So much for recovery sleep. I guess when you are nearly 4, nearly 5 and nearly 7 you don't need it as much as when you are nearly 33.
I was born a semi-diva. I married a redneck. Through the magic of osmosis or just because of a serious lack of sophistication over the years I have found a balance of the two that make me who I am today. And then I write about it all, much to the chagrin of my mother.
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4 comments:
Oh Wow! What a day he must've had! That's one lucky kid ya got there...now he can say he got to ride a firetruck to school! Doubt there's many lil boys who can say that.
But, hoooo boy...bet you were not loving that crashing down period there for awhile!
Diva,
That smile says it all. I love how his little feet dangle above the floor of the fire truck.
My #1 son would not be rocked, either. Or take a pacifier. He spit it across the room. It was kind of a fun game, really. Pop that thing in his mouth and see how far he could shoot it.
MamaK-There's only one other little boy at his school who can say he's ridden the fire truck to school and he's the kid who won last year! lol
The crashing down of the boy was definitely not the finest point of the day, but he seems to have recovered fine since.
HillbillyMom-Dangling feet are just too cute, aren't they??
I rocked Kady up until last fall and the ONLY reason I quit is because it was getting to where it'd take her twice as long to fall asleep when I rocked her. I guess that rocking her to sleeping while I watched All My Children might've had something to do with that . . .
Bryce won 1st in the coloring contest w/ Bluejacket Fire Dept. I asked if he got to ride in the firetruck....he just said "um, no I'm not so sure it runs!" Makes me feel so safe!
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