Normal is a four letter word. Extraordinary is the new black.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Hold on little buddy.

Woot woot, all aboard the Crazy Train.
Hmm just typing that brings to mind images of Ozzy Osborne looking mildly insane, but in that hilarious way, not at all intimidating like he was aiming for. So September....September means the chaos begins.


She just kept trying to stuff sweet potatoes through a mouth hole that didn't exist. Like a good mommy, I videoed it, and watched in horror and amusement. I was horrimused.

This year we are one kid light as the big girl is in University. Having trouble keeping score? The big girl- older borrowed daughter number two that is now part of this family. She looks nothing like any of our children, unlike older borrowed daughter number one. This confuses people when the kids call her sister, which in turn amuses us. We love her and her older brother to death. Older brother is, older borrowed son. He is biological brother to older borrowed daughter number two, has his own apartment and is in his third year of university. Our exchanges are mostly about counselling him in how not to get kicked out of his apartment for throwing parties and how best to preserve his liver for future use. Clear as mud? Need a diagram? Sorry- moving on.
Okay, so kids living under this roof now number one, two, three. This September brings a new thing, a buddy for little G to play with.
No, not a peer but rather a lady that comes in and tries to help us teach his amazing brain to fake it till he makes it for the rest of the world that "just don't get him".
She is lovely and all about a good impression. I think I scared her when I said,
"Oh sister, you are in. If we didn't like you, you wouldn't have made it through the front door."


In the coming weeks look for fun posts like "Little G's buddy tries to make him leave the house." and "Little G's buddy publicly humiliates him by making him ride a two wheeled death machine (aka bicycle)." We will round out the buddy series this month with "Little G and his buddy go to the pool AKA what it would look like if a cat went swimming."

September also brings the start of C-man's theatre classes. Basically it is minor hockey for dramageeks. It all culminates to two weeks in January with 18 hour days and a giant grin on his face that says, " I love this, bring it on. More more more."
A few years back I decided to help out with the props and took the job over. Given my background in theatre and my inability to balance things I love, it of course became a 1500 hour position with momma gluing handles on giant aluminum butter knives at a shop, in a questionable part of town, at 3am. Totally sane.

Little L, well she starts the year of experiencing all the world has to offer.
This means that she pwns Thursday morning ballet, is gonna ride a pony and sample assorted other stuff. This all helps mom pretend that Kindergarten is not happening next year.
Momma is all ostrich baby. Head in the sand, best way to fly.

Shhh look how quiet and mellow. Let's pretend our days are always this calm umkay?


Hubby, also a theatre freak, starts on his show build at the school he is teaching at. He does the sets and the light an

d sound. Every year he has a few dedicated kids that really dig in and own the show and their part in it. He loves to see kids inspired, but there are always a few that are more like herding cats.

Exhibit A: One of my grandmother's many feral kitties. I think we will make this little guy the poster child for September.

So it begins. In there too, we meet with the schools to write education plans for both little men so that their learning experiences are stellar and that their teachers "get them". Love those meetings. Especially the ones where un-named admin are all "There, there hysterical mother." So much fun. Sometimes the meetings make me laugh and sometimes they leave me feeling a little stabby.

We love this ride, but it is a wild one- we don't usually get to come up for air until January and given the rain we have here September to January, I suppose that isn't a bad thing. The house gets neglected and sometimes I run in during the chaos, look in a room for something, get scared that the mess is multiplying while we sleep and slowly close the door to pretend that isn't happening.

Hang on tight. Cue the circus music and the dancing monkeys, it's gonna be a great adventure experience*.
*The word adventure changed to reflect Little G's current hatred for the word, which sends him into a spiralling pit of horror and torture.