I woke him up at 9:30. I read a couple Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger stories then we headed downstairs. He started playing Minecraft. Carly rather shyly asked if she could go work on things. August said, “Don’t be shy, mama. Dada’s a good person.” A couple minutes later he told me, “No being snarky in the classroom…I wrote your name under ‘discipline’.” We played in Conquered Flatland, which he agreed to when I pointed out he kept making new flat worlds, but I’d put the most work into the first one. We had cereal and nectarines for breakfast and watched GoodTimeswithScar, where he woke the mayoral race. Tedious was a word of the day.
We then went upstairs to wrestle. We did the shark game, then the polar bear game when I was cold. He asked about hypothermia, so I got the iPad so we could watch the video I’d found on it. A few more questions and we ended up reading https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/world/europe/woman-survives-cardiac-arrest.amp.html We then acted out a guy with hypothermia being saved by a bear and going to the hospital. He was then Myna, playing Minecraft, and made a Lucky Sapling add-on. He wanted Sister to sing “Cada Semilla” as she used it.
Eventually we went downstairs. He did alone time, listening to “The Princess’s Excellent Birthday”. He played Minecraft, starting with me, then switching to Carly. He was grumpy getting off, and in a bad mood. But then he ended up playing Candyland on his own. Red won. I read Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger. Cross me was a new phrase. We read through chapter 18.
He then played chess on the real board with Carly. She said, “I’ll let you set it up.” To which he replied, “Great, great. This is my miracle!” I had been typing and he came over to see what I was writing and was reading words. Carly joked that he shouldn’t read my private writing. So I started a new document, and wrote funny things for him. In total, I wrote:
This is not for August’s eyes. If he reads this we are all in trouble. The secret that August can never know is that there is a secret pet elephant located under the house. Mama and I go and play with it when August is asleep. It would be way too much fun for him. There is also a big freezer full of ice cream. Only the good flavors. We eat about a pint every night.
Also, Santa Claus is real. Since August doesn’t believe in him, Santa gives me all of his toys instead.
And he better not ask Carly about the fairies. The fairies will get very, very angry. I am afraid that they will destroy the piano with their magic.
Anyway, it is time for me to make stuff up and mess with August. I have him thinking that the Earth is a sphere. Everyone knows it is actually a cube.
That is all of the secrets that I will type today. There are thousands of others.
I told you I was all done.
Okay, now that he left, I can type more. I can admit that I hate pie. My favorite food is actually tomatoes. Tomato pie, actually. If I could drink just one drink for the rest of my life it would be tomato juice.
After each paragraph he would tell me to stop, because when I started to type again he had to read it. Very funny. He then went outside with Carly, and I sent him two emails with more “secrets”. He got a lollipop for some reason, and needed my help opening it. I needed scissors. He said, “It’s as hard to get open as make a COVID-19 vaccine. Nice analogy, right?” When she told him he could play chess with Cherie again he said: “Two days in a row? That’s special!”
At 4 we went and had our meeting with Gabi. August watched videos on the bed and ate crackers and peanut butter. When he was still hungry I ran down and got apple and peanut butter. When we were done he was watching Phineas Rage, and I watched the end of it with him.
Downstairs, he and Carly started making a big chess set out of paper. August then seemed to enter a new taping phase: He taped up Carly’s water bottle then started putting tape on me. August and Carly then went up for secret talk about something. I told him to not check his email. They came down for Minecraft time.
I went for a run. They played Minecraft, but Colin had connection problems, so Carly ended up talking and playing with him much of the time. August also read one of the secrets emails from me, and an email from Carly and one from Oma at some point.
After Minecraft was chess time with Cherie. August had his dinner of tofu and a bowl of shredded carrots with lemon, then some salmon, then I brought him an apple with peanut butter, before having his crackers with peanut butter and honey.
Carly gave him a bath, and they discussed matching clothes. She mentioned when she was opposed to matching clothing as a kid. August said, “Maybe I should be against matching myself.”
In bed we listened to “The Great Race of the Chinese Zodiac” on Stories Podcast. And he joked “Don’t open the goozack!” Which is from Wayside School. He also randomly asked, “What’s a hectare?” Not sure what story that as from.
We brushed our teeth and listened to a Toro y Moi instrumental album. That finished, then we listened to a Stars of the Lid album. He kept waking me, and at one point got up to turn the air conditioning back on. I wasn’t really awake enough to engage much when he told me that “When I see another person I’ll faint.” He was asleep by 11:55.
Candyland by himself:
Me typing for him:
A little piano 1:
A little piano 2:
Helping mama play chess:
