Hostility, Food Court Shows, and Mr. Invisible
Sorry we've been offline for a few days. We had a bit of an internet glitch. Well, WE didn't; our company did. I can't even remember half of the cute stuff the kids have done in the last week.
Our current renovations have finally been completed, much to our relief, and CERTAINLY much to Ror's. Near the end, he became quite hostile toward the construction crew. Several days before construction ended, I noticed that the handymen seemed to be giving Ror funny looks, almost tentative or cautious, when we would walk outside to the car and pass by them as they worked. Then two days before work ended, I figured out why: I was in the hallway near his bedroom and heard hostile shouting and banging. I thought he was napping, so I went to the door and peeked through the cracked opening. Ror was standing at the window, screaming, "Hey you fixer guys! Stop making noise, I'm trying to sleep! And stop wrecking my house! You're making me SICK! Get out of here! Go home! Get away from me and leave me alone!" What a lovely way to show the crew that we appreciate the work they've done.
A few nights ago, to get away from all of the banging, Riley Kate and I went to the mall (AND had portraits taken; check her online album later tonight!) and ate at the food court. I quickly discovered that the outfit she was wearing (a very snazzy leopard print jumper) attracted a great deal of attention, and what this kid certainly does NOT need is more attention. She gave a full fledged show in the food court for three tables full of people. She even got an encore, and ever one to give the people what they want, rocked out to "Rock the Casbah." During "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone," the people finished their food and began to depart. She started screaming like a deranged Eva Peron, insulted and incensed that her public was leaving her.
Connor and I also made a recent trip to the mall to shop for Chris's birthday presents (which is a whole separate story, which I will post tomorrow), but he was much more demure in the food court, using his new "Mr. Invisible" skills, developed days earlier on a family trip to Friendly's. One night last week, we all decided to go to Friendly's rather than cook. However, when we arrived, there wasn't a table available that could fit all of us, so we had to split up at two tables across an aisle from each other. Connor, for the first time, had the privilege of sitting at the "big kid" table with our nine- and ten-year-old. He took that opportunity to try out some "magic tricks". Good boys that they are, they decided to play along and pretend that he had amazed them all. Connor said, "Okay, I'm going to make myself invisible-- Shazam!" The two boys shouted in mock astonishment, "Oh my GOSH! Where'd he GO? He's GONE!" I'm not sure if it was the convincing air of disbelief in their voices, or the fact that he figured that boys not much older than him wouldn't be capable of pretending to not see him--- but he was STUNNED. He began looking at his arms and legs, and noting that he could see HIMSELF, figured that invisibility did not affect the invisible party, and started saying, "I am TOTALLY invisible! I don't even know how I DID it! I made myself invisible! I cannot BELIEVE this!" So perhaps he's not bound for Harvard, but the new "trick" does provide hours of enjoyment for other residents of the house who are badgered over and over to answer whether they can see him or not.
Pictures of Chris's birthday lunch should be posted, along with a new album showing our renovations, later tonight.
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