Best Friends

On Saturday, Deion and I went to the Bug Box. It was my first visit since I penned the article a few months back.

After 45 minutes of checking out all things creepy and crawly, Deion was ready to go home, but not before we hit the gift shop. I let him talk me into a minor purchase below $2.

He browsed the gift shop and immediately slapped a big, black gummy rat on the counter and smirked at me mischievously. To scare mom, he said. Not a good idea, I countered. Coincidentally, my wife had a nightmare about rats the night before. I knew nothing good could come out of that. So he chose gummy worms instead.

At the counter, the sweetest lady rang us up. Smiling at us, she said, “Are you two best friends?” I was stunned. And when I told her that we were father and son her face flushed red with embarrassment. I told her that I was 30. She looked at me and said that I didn’t want to know how old she thought I was and that I would look 30 at 60, since I look as young as I do now.

For me, that was certainly a first. I’ve had people ask if Jordan or Deion were my brothers or nephews, but never my best friends. But someday though, I hope that those words will be prophetic.
Chris

Expensive Advice

Some say advice doesn’t come cheap. Jordan learned that in a major way on Saturday.

Deion was on the computer looking for cheat codes for his Pokemon game. Jordan happened to be in the basement at the time. When he learned what Deion was doing, he asked about some codes. Deion insisted that he knew some really good codes, but wouldn’t tell them to him. So Jordan got creative, or so he thought. He broke out his chips and offered to pay Deion two black chips for the code.

In case you’re wondering what chips are, we created a rewards system with our boys in which they earn colored poker chips for great report cards and interims, showing great character and by completing their chores well and on time. Black is the highest chip, valued at 50 minutes. These minutes apply to entertainment – TV and movies, video games and computer time. No chips, no entertainment.

So Deion gave Jordan a code. Then Jordan decided that he wanted to know more codes. By the end of the whole fiasco, Deion had a stack of eight black chips, which is about 400 minutes (over 6-1/2 hours). And Jordan had four codes and no proof that they even worked.

We held family court and talked about whether or not it was a fair deal. My wife and I didn’t believe it was, but since this was a real world experience that made for a great teaching tool, we ruled in favor of Deion, the defendant. We told Jordan that it would have been all too easy for him to just hop on the computer and find his own cheat codes. It was an expensive learning experience, but thankfully Jordan tends learns pretty well from his mistakes.
Chris

Fear Factor

We took Deion to his first ever soccer practice today. On the way over, he was playing with his ball, upbeat and confident. We asked him all of the “Since it’s your first time…” type of questions. He ensured us that he was fine and that he wasn’t nervous. So we took him at his word.

We got to the park nearly 15 minutes before practice, but since we usually run late because of our excessive schedule, we thought that the team on the field was his…and the kids were huge. I told him that he was in the senior league and the age range was from 12-15. He froze for second before he grabbed the door handle.

“Are you going to come?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.

He stepped outside of the van. But he kept us in his view. He normally runs from the van as to not be caught with his uncool parents. Not this time. He stood still in front of the van and when I opened a chair for my wife, he stood near the chair. Finally, we walked over to the coach only to learn that he wasn’t ours. We were early for once. I could see the relief in Deion’s face. He dribbled his ball back to the sidelines and looked like his old playful self.

And once his team took the field, he fit right in.

Deion talks a good game. Jordan does, too, sometimes. But I like times like tonight. It humbles them. As he’s “grown up” over the past year, he’s tried more and more to prove his maturity by distancing himself from us and trying to be more independent. But it’s good to know that when he does feel insecure, he’s not afraid to come to us. He even gave me a hug – in public – right after practice.
Chris

Quincy

We took a moment out of our hectic schedule to spend some time with Quincy. He’s our new son and he’s doing well in utero. During our visit today to the doctor, we heard his heart beating like a stampede of horses. He’s kicking and swimming around from place to place and he’s growing nicely.

I’m excited to be a dad again. I guess it’s the chance to start over with more experience than I did a decade ago. I was in college when Jordan was born, in class the night he saw the world for the first time. I didn’t see him on a regular basis until he was three. Deion I didn’t have in my life until he was nine. Not sure if I mentioned it or not in blogs past, but we have a blended family. I’ve been married to my lovely wife for two-and-a-half years. We each had sons prior.

So for me, Quincy will be the first son I have from start to finish, so it’s a big deal for me. I’m enjoying the process. I love to feel for him in my wife’s belly. I like to talk to him and say his name. And now, I’m going to start reading to him. My wife sings the
A-B-C song to him all the time, so it’s time I join in on the early education process.

My only fear is that I may love him too much, that he’ll become sort of a Joseph to me – if you’re familiar with the story in the Bible – that even though my other sons are older, they’ll envy how much I love Quincy. So I have to be careful.

Qunicy’s due on June 26, but I secretly hope that he’ll stay inside until early July so that we can share a birthday. Not sure my chances are great, but it’s possible. And for me, that would be the greatest present I’ve ever received.
Chris

Career Assessment

While cleaning the living room, I found one of Deion’s school worksheets. I didn’t think much of it at first, but curiosity took over when I saw that it was a “Career Assessment Test.”

If you’re unfamiliar with these tests, what they try to do is match a person with a career that suits their interests. They go about this by asking a ridiculous amount of questions from the specific (i.e. Do you enjoy working with chemicals in a laboratory environment in which you work with colleagues to try to find a cure for Type II diabetes?”) to the mundane (i.e. Do you like to travel?”).

I glanced over Deion’s spreadsheet. His career of choice: “Po Po.”

What? You ask. The term po-po was popularized by early 90’s gangsta rappers and become part of the vernacular of youth everywhere, along with “5-Oh.” Leave it to Deion, the same kid who tried to write e-mails to teachers in shorthand, to attempt to turn in a career assessment with slang terminology. I could only shake my head.

A police officer, I thought. My wife laughed when I told her. How can someone who has little respect for rules enforce others with the same school of thought to obey them? How can someone who likes to find loopholes in everything enforce the strict code of the law? I just can’t visualize Deion being a cop. Neither can LaLisa. But it’s his choice.

And I’m sure that his choice will change in a year or two. Most kids’ do.
Chris