Easily Excitable

This past week, the singlewide had a little shake up. Typically, it’s Boone, Trey, and me. Three’s company, and it makes for a full house. Only, this week, for a few days, we had a visitor. 

Young man Zayden came to stay with us. 

I was a little concerned, mainly because I wasn’t sure how he would fare sans Pippa and Poppy, who were enjoying a trip to Kansas City, Missouri for a real estate convention. 

I shouldn’t have worried: Zayden seemed to have the time of his life. 

In his little mind, was it like summer camp? 

I mean, surely, it was kind of like that, right? 

A cabin set out in the country? Questionable bedtimes? Limited hot water? Brushing his teeth with little supervision? 

Only difference was the fact that it’s spring, not summertime, and ‘traveling to camp’ involved a 100 yard walk from his own house. 

Apart from that? Totally like summer camp. 

It was also interesting for Trey and me. 

See, this past weekend, we went to Memphis to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. 

Happy 29th birthday, Ms. Tamela!

In celebration, we decorated, we ate cake, we sat in the backyard, we karaoked like our lives depended on it, we went to the St. Patrick’s Day parade, and we played games. 

And then, Sunday morning, Trey and I took off at 6:45, routed to Cochran.

We made it back to the singlewide around 4:30 that afternoon, bearing in mind that we would- in just a few hours- have a very excited 10 year old in our care.

The prep was on.

We unpacked, went to Harris’ Grocery, and filled the fridge.

The cafeteria staff (Trey and me) were guns a’blazin, full speed ahead. 

Trey went and got the boy while I finished cooking. He came in full speed ahead, and so began our half-week together. 

Here’s a little rundown- a few things of note- from his time with us:

Our first mistake was forgetting about bedtime. 

We called my momma one night to check in. She went through a list of things to remember, because OF COURSE a child must come with an instruction manual. 

Zayden did come equipped with his clothes and his bike (he’d hauled it with him to his best friend’s house and then to church), but naturally, he’d forgotten his toothbrush. 

I went back and got that, I promise. 

Another thing he’d forgotten to mention was the fact that he has a bedtime. When Momma asked if we remembered he goes to bed at 8:15…well…that was news to me. 

It was especially convicting when I glanced at the time on my phone, only to realize we were chatting with her at 8:35. 

Go ahead and tally a loss for me. 

Zayden’s Weather Worries

When Zayden first came over Sunday, Trey told me (covertly) that Zayden was concerned about the weather. 

What a time to be alive- that our first big storm of the year should come while Zayden was staying with us. In a trailer. With tornado-favorable weather.

Post-church, I sat outside, and intermittently, Zayden would stop his bike beside me to ask me questions about our routine the following day. So I did my best to get down to the smallest, most minute details. We talked about nighttime routines, wake-up times, what we would do before school- all the things. 

Trey and I then checked the radar with him at dinner, covering likelihoods and probabilities of bad weather.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I got the text at 9:00pm that Bleckley Schools would be closed the following day. If you live in Bleckley, you’ll realize the significance of this and why I started getting a little nervous at that point. 

If you don’t, allow me to explain: if Bleckley County closes school, it’s kind of like Jim Cantore showing up at your front door. It means battle stations, everyone.

His weather worries? They ended up making sense. 

Thus came a weather day Off from School.

We don’t get many of these, so I was a little anxious. 

Now, normally, I’m pretty laissez faire about bad weather: see, typically, if things get bad, Momma lets me know speedily. She’s the one with the 13WMAZ. Imagine my shock when I had to be responsible for another life. 

Wake-up call, am I right? 

Speaking of wake-up calls, mine came at 4:30 that morning: I figured I needed to be up early in case I needed to evacuate and leave Zayden behind. 

Anddd speaking of wake-up calls, Zayden’s came at 7:00am when a deafening clap of thunder shook the whole house. He popped up and made it into the living room quickly, much to Boone’s joy. 

I then got to tell him what Trey called ‘every little boy’s dream’- that school’d been cancelled while he was asleep. 

How do you entertain a child when there’s lots of rain and no school?

If you’re Aunt Emmie, basically, you toss activities at said child so you can bond and keep him off screens as much as possible. 

Now, I will admit, Zayden did get a little too much TV time that morning. I had a slate of things I needed to get done in case the power did go off, such as washing clothes, making chicken salad, cooking breakfast for the week, and cleaning the house. 

I know these things probably don’t matter to you, but they do to me, and the only thing worse than being trapped inside all day is being trapped inside a dirty house. 

Then came our activity time.

Zayden’s really interested in lifting weights these days, so I obliged. We did a 30 minute work out, then went and ran the halls of the high school because I’m a glutton for punishment. 

From there, we filled the morning with reading time and video games. Thankfully, by the afternoon, the rain cleared up. 

That gave us several good hours of playing outside: Zayden got his BB gun to shoot (at) things. Judging by the sounds I heard, I think he was just firing those BBs at nothingness. 

I then made him a target, and he would step back paces to try and shoot it.

At one point, he told me that he thinks something must be wrong with the gun because he keeps missing birds. 

Of course it’s the BB gun, right??

Zayden’s actually pretty helpful

Imagine my shock when Zayden asked multiple times, “Is there anything I can do?” Whether this offer of help was borne of good will or pure boredom, I’m not sure, but I, for one, didn’t analyze it. 

He helped cook mac’n’cheese, got the table set, and vacuumed the floor, but far and away, his favorite task was helping make chicken nuggets.

These chicken nuggets are simple to make- they have four ingredients- and they’re actually pretty good. 

While I was finishing some other tasks, Zayden took to forming the chicken nuggets. Only, for him, it was basically a time for creativity. He made one that began as a dinosaur, but ended up being a horse (his words). For him, this was his Mona Lisa. 

You’ve never seen a child so enamored with a task. 

I don’t know who taught him how to sit in a car. 

I know this sounds like an odd one. Follow me here. 

Zayden, upon entering the car, puts his seat back up so straight that he’s actually leaning forward. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, but I do forget that he’s somewhat new to the whole ‘riding shotgun’ experience, so I don’t judge. 

Even though my seats are all jacked up.

His favorite part of riding in the car is requesting music. He’s a sucker for country music, and his new favorite is “Traveling Soldier.” 

I showed him this, so I’m prideful about it, I’ll admit. Now, my next task is to show him some 90s Country Queen hits. Specifically? “Man, I Feel Like a Woman.” That’ll be for the next camp stay. 

All in all, it was a pretty smooth half-week. 

We loved having Zayden around, and considering the adverse/ cold weather, he did a jam-up job. 

Boone was sad to see his best friend leave, but he didn’t get too upset. After all, he gets to see Zayden every afternoon for post-school football. 

Camp Kotara held its own. Thank the Lord.