No Head Start For You!

So today, the Gremlin visited the Taste of Chicago. After scarfing down two ears of corn, a hot dog, and some funnel cake, the Gremlin returned to the Family Village to wreak some havoc. After staying in the "bouncy house" for so long that one of the directors had to come over and ask that he get out, the Terrible Two Year Terror spotted his second favorite thing: free stuff.

He barreled over to the table and began talking up the woman behind. Once his mother caught up with him, she found out that the woman was an official of the Head Start program in the Chicago Public School System. Upon finding out the age of the Gremlin, she began talking about Head Start, and how it worked and how it would be beneficial. During the boring conversation, the Gremlin had one goal: schwag.

He really wanted one of the toys they were handing out, and was pointing to it insistently. Finally, after realizing that his mother was more concerned about his education than the once-in-a-lifetime possibility of getting a free toy, he chimed in.

My Wife: "Hi, sorry about him grabbing like that."
Head Start Advocate: "Oh, it's no problem, we're here to attract kids about his age."
My Wife: "Yeah, I've heard of Head Start, but never really knew what it was. What do you do?"
Head Start Advocate: "Head Start is really for kids to start to get the basics - the alphabet, numbers, and things like that." It was at this point the Gremlin realized that the focus was no longer on the toys, and he'd have to speak up if he wanted it.
The Gremlin: "A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Please I can have that?"
Head Start Advocate: "Oh, well, we also teach other things like potty training, and-"
The Gremlin: "I go peepee in the potty! PLEASE can I have that?"
Head Start Advocate: "Oh, well, I guess you're a little old for our program, then."
The Gremlin: "I two and half. Now I can have that? Please?"
Head Start Advocate: "You're two? I don't think you want that honey, it's for five to seven year olds. Here, you can take a look at it."

She handed my wife a form at the same time she handed him the toy he wanted. It was a clear cube, with an arced piece of metal or plastic going to opposite corners, forming a dip. In the middle of the arc, was a single hole. On one side of the arc was a metal ball, the purpose being the cube can be rotated to get the ball into the hole in the arc.

Head Start Advocate: "He's two and he's already potty trained?"
My Wife: "Yeah, he did it himself, he'd get really upset if we didn't take him to the bathroom when he had to go - he refused to go in his diaper."
Head Start Advocate: "That's extremely impressi-"
The Gremlin: "All done!"

He set the cube on the table, the ball resting in the hole, and started looking underneath the sign they'd draped over the table. The Head Start Advocate took the sheet out of my wife's hands and said,

"Just put your email address here, you'll receive information on the Gifted Programs offered by the City."

AJ At The Fire Station

It was a glorious day for the Gremlin. Not only was he able to go downtown on the train, but then he had his class, and even after that the Gremlin went to lunch with Daddy! It was an amazing and exhausting day, that got even more amazing.

Coming back from the fountain where he lunch with Daddy, the Gremlin was looking around and saw a recessed area surrounded by scaffolding. It intrigued him, and he was determined to see what was in ... oh look, a bus!

They were almost up to the bus when he saw it out of the corner of his eye. The Fire Truck. He leapt towards the shiny red and black vehicle, causing his father (whose shoulders he was on) to arc violently over and almost crack both their heads open. Once he was on the ground, he immediately sprinted towards the open bays, stopping just short of actually going in. He was so excited he was breathing in huge gasps, and even more so after a young fireman waved the Gremlin in.

"Come on in!" If only the fireman knew what he was getting into, he may not have been so welcoming, however the Gremlin was ecstatic and wasted no time in running up to both. He stared up at the black and red behemoth, his head just barely coming up to the top of the tire.

It was here the fireman made his egregious error. He asked the Gremlin if he wanted to sit in the truck and play with the lights. The Gremlin put all of the athletic prowess he contained into climbing up the truck as fast as he was possibly able. The fireman was so impressed, he let the imp climb, and got in on the passenger side - leaving the keys in the ignition.

And it was the little string that hung from the ceiling that did it. As the Gremlin climbed up to get to the fireman and where he was pointing, he grabbed onto that string for support, letting the full blast of the horn echo throughout the station and into the city.

"Whoa!"
"Hey!"
"Oh!"
"Ha!"
"What's that?!"

The blast of the horn was immediately followed by a rush of firemen, and the Gremlin stared as they slid down the pole and came through various doors to see what the commotion was. Of course, he thought this was a noise that *made* firemen, so before the poor young fireman who put him in the truck could reach over and pull the keys out (as he was attempting to talk to the firemen next to him to explain what was going on), the impish boy let another blast trumpet through the station.

The chaotic scramble that followed was hysterical to the Gremlin, who giggled as he watched the various firemen attempt to reach him and the horn, only to do such interesting things as trigger the lights, siren, and some odd hissing noise that we weren't able to place.

We left the fire station shortly after, the Gremlin even getting a coloring book given to him by a real fire man! Of course, now he thinks that he can climb into any old fire truck he sees on the street, but that's a story for another week.