Saturday, March 7, 2009

The pain of haircuts and the joy of grooming.


Well, it was time. The haircut could not be put off one more day. Now haircuts have never been an easy thing with James. When he was very little he would scream so loud and so hysterically Cindy and I worried that the neighbors would call the police. There is something about the cut hair falling on his neck that makes him hate haircuts. This has gotten better over time but it is still not easy and without protests. Cindy called me in to sit on the bed and just be in the room while she got the scissors going. Double teaming seems to help the whole thing. And so after yet one more less than enjoyable haircut James was done, bathed and back to his joyful self. He was profuse with thank you's. It is always kind of funny because he combs his hair and thanks his Mom and says, "I got my hair back". Feeling very dapper with a new hair cut and a fresh bath he often stands in front of the mirror to comb and pose. We usually get a few muscle man poses with the guns in full display. "I got my hair back." He is glad to have that over with for a while.

His overflowing euphoria about the finished hair cut put him in a grooming mood. After his hair was good and combed he gathered all of his stuffed animals and combed their hair one at a time until everyone in the room was ready for the paparazzi.

James Lyons "High St. Baptist Church"


"Hi, I'm James Lyons, pastor's son, High Street Baptist Church" We had a new receptionist the other day at the church office when Cindy and James dropped by. Always looking for something to explore James found the phone in the fax room with the headset. Immediately he put the head set on and went to work answering the phone. Thankfully it was mostly pretend and since there were no calls routed to that desk. All was well, or so I thought. I went on with my work and then later walked back through. I began to listen and then he gestured to me. Dad, "mean guys". "Where?" I asked. His response, "Means guys here, I call police." I didn't think much of it but happened to notice him actually dialing. I got there just in time. He whispered as he punched the buttons, 9-1-1 but before he hit the second 1 ... I grabbed the phone.

"James, do not call 911. The police do not like it when we "pretend" and call them", I scolded. I know this is a necessary warning.

A few Sundays ago, the house was full of the kids and some guests for lunch. James was in my bedroom watching tv. I went to check on him and saw that one of his favorite movies was on, Home Alone. He loves the pranks, the "mean guys" and the police. No worries, he was quite occupied so I went back to our guests. A few minutes later the phone rang. It was the 911 operator and she asked if someone had called about an emergency. Cindy assured her that all was well and that nobody... and then she paused and looked me. Well, maybe somebody did dial. It was James. Profuse with apologies to the operator we went back to talk to James. When I asked him if he had in fact called 911, I realized by the look in his eye and the hessitation that he had. I we had a little talk followed by a few minutes in the thinking chair.

Once again we had our 911 lecture after the church office near missed call. Life is never boring.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Shrek is cleaning James' room


It was a few minutes before our small group arrived last Sunday. With the family in a mad dash to put everything in order we heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner going in James' room. We thought that James had gotten in gear to help. Little did we know that it was actually Shrek cleaning his room. Why "just clean" when you can do so much more like pretending to be this amazing cartoon character and get the job done with gusto. Never a dull moment. We love it and the little guy that keeps things mixed up for us.