Anecdotes and Collected Shorts

The Gremlin is ready for summer. He was saying this and sighing the other day, and so I asked him what his favorite part of the summer was. He then regaled me with his favorite summer ritual - removing as many clothes as possible. Apparently when he gets warm, he will ask his mother to take him to the Chicago Park District pool and sprinkler park. Once there, he will dress down to his trunks and then inform his mother that he no longer wants to swim, but wants to play in the sand. Apparently, that's his 'cool-down' for the hot summers.

The Mother of the Gremlin has started to frequent a coffee shop called Family Grounds Cafe as it offers direct injections of caffeine, but also has a separate playground for toddlers - allowing mothers to gather together in relative peace. I say only relative because of one of the signs on the wall at the FGC:

"Unattended children will be given espresso shots and puppies. To date, 14 puppies have been adopted here." and the 14 is actually a space of chalkboard that can be written on. The MOTG saw this sign and immediately corralled the Gremlin, having just seen an FGC employee walking around with a small portable kennel cage.

Fearless

I'm convinced he will be a mafia enforcer. The Gremlin came back in full force yesterday. He had been digging at the park - his bucket and pail having been dutifully lugged the three blocks to the park where there was sand almost as plentiful as the beach.

The Gremlin has been showing some anti-social tendencies lately, but his mother and I believe this to actually be a phase - the child is gregarious most of the time. However, he was playing quietly alone this time - excavating on the other side of the bridge than the other kids when disaster struck in the form of a seven year old.

The towering trunk of post-toddler terror teetered over the tiny tot. Without a word, the bully snatched the pail out of the Gremlin's hands. The Gremlin was taken aback, "That's mine!"

"Well, I'm using it now," the seven year old retorted.
"May I have my pail please?" the Gremlin only asks once.
"No!" as soon as the words left the bully's mouth, the Gremlin responded. He used both hands to shove the bully to the ground. He twisted the pail out of the startled kid's hand, and stepped up the length of his body. As he stood above the bully, straddling his shoulders, he slowly reached down, and slapped him across the face.

As the Gremlin went back to his digging the now conquered bully approached his mother, who was perched on a nearby bench bouncing with laughter. She restored my faith in both humanity, and her parenting by cutting him off before he was able to get to her.

"You were mean to that boy, even after he asked nicely!"