breakover

Right before break (and as tired as the rest of us get from all the holiday parties and concerts and hullabaloo) Tucker complained about having to go to school.  Andy, also seriously exhausted, explained that if we didn’t send him, we could get in trouble, go to jail even.  That explanation pretty much sent Tucker into a mild depression.  He got his shoes and backpack on real fast that morning.

It's been nice to have him home for a couple weeks.

What can you make with a circle? a clock, a bike, eyeglasses, a porcupine, the Target logo...

He filled an entire page with "dangerous things."  He added to the paper several times over the course of winter break: lava and fireworks, TNT and volcanoes and knives, lightsabers and bumble bees, all labeled perfectly with five year old phonetics.

He really wanted a bow and arrow for Christmas, but wasn't sure Santa would like to deliver a weapon.  So he bypassed the big man and appealed to Poppy instead.  After all, Poppy has a whole room full of dangerous things at his house.

Explaining a small music box that Santa left in his stocking: The sticks hit the dots that are like islands on the spinning wheel, and that's what makes the notes.

He tried lentil soup this week, and has asked to pack that in his “furnace” for school.
Thermos does sound a little like furnace, and they do both keep things warm, so.

There are now two soft fleece blankets on the basement couch, to eliminate, or at least reduce, arguments over who snuggles with what.  One is brown and the other is gold, and Tuck refers to them as chocolate and peanut butter.

This afternoon he said he wished he were a cockroach, so if his head is ever severed he won't die for a few weeks.

He also built a radio today, with parts from his circuit kit.  He flipped a switch and turned the dial to tune it, static alternating with fuzzy tunes, and his face, as he showed the project to me, was super proud.

I make these records, silly as they may seem, mostly for myself, so that I might remember some of the small details of our time together.
I'm going to miss having him home during the day.