Am I My Brother's "Jeepers?"

Did you ever have one of those lost Saturdays? The kind where you accomplish nothing but really do a lot of something so you never have time to do the something you wanted to get done with a little extra time leftover to do nothing? Today was one of those days.

Nate’s team made it into the soccer playoffs, which were today at 2pm near the dreaded West Boylston! Iz had an appointment on her social calendar. It was a dinner date with her former pre-school teacher, Miss Rebecca. The unfortunate thing was that Nate’s game started at 2pm, so I had to leave home by 1pm, but Iz would not be picked up by Miss Rebecca until 4pm, and if I brought Iz to the game, we wouldn’t be home until 5pm. I tried to find a sitter, which was futile.

I had a dilemma; I had to be in two places at the same time! Of course, I know any Mom out there would love to know how I accomplished that. I’m sorry, but I have to let you down. I was not able to pull a Samantha on “Bewitched” and twitch my nose to have one of me do the job of two of me; thus, we shall have to keep looking for a solution to that one!

Miss Rebecca couldn’t get Iz any earlier, so the only thing I could do was cancel Iz’s fun with Miss Rebecca and take her with me. When I told she started to cry, and through her heavily glossed pink lips dotted with chocolate-chocolate chip muffin crumbs from breakfast, she said, "But, I got all dressed up!" Oh, sh*t. I felt rotten.

So, as any good but perhaps bad Mom would do, I said, “Hey, on the way to Nate’s game, let’s get you a new DS game.” She was going to patiently sit through 2+ hours of soccer, and at her age, it was a stretch. I had to weigh me being able to watch most of the game versus her being able to be occupied during most of the game so I could watch the game.

At 11:30, we left the house. Nathan forgot his game jersey and shorts at his Dad’s, so we had to go there and fetch them there. We parked in the driveway, and he ran in to get them. When we drove off, he said, “Excuse me. I have to change in the car,” which was followed shortly by “Oh, dang! These are the wrong shorts!” I asked, “Do you want to go back and get the right shorts? We’re only 5 minutes away, and you’ll make the bus still.” He said he did, and I said, “This time, put your shorts on IN THE HOUSE.”

Nate came running out of the house with his shorts, but he still had to do a quick change into his game jersey. And, as we drove to the high school, Iz announced that she was going to start karate next week. This was news to me. But, usually Iz surprises me by most everything she says, and this is just one of the reasons why I love her. She then said, “I didn’t like soccer, because I got hit in the chest by a ball. So, I’m going to do karate.”

Nathan said (and it was Mr. Reason versus Miss No Rhyme or Reason), “Isabelle, that happens in every sport. You always might get a ball in the chest, fall down, or something like that.” I like the way Nate talks to Iz; he talks to her like she’s an intelligent and reasonable adult not like she’s an intelligent yet somewhat annoying 6-year-old. He always takes the time to explain things to her, as he was doing now. But, every so often, I have to remind Nate that she’s six not 26!

After listening to Nate’s sports-can-cause-pain speech, Iz countered with the very insightful, “Nathan, your hair is sticking up!” Nathan immediately pulled down the visor, looked in the mirror (at this point, I half expected Iz to say, “Made you look! Made you look!”) and smoothed down the 5-strand cowlick at the back of his head.

Not to be put off by Iz’s remark, Nathan went on again to try and explain to Iz that sports and pain were synonymous. Iz then pondered his explanation and said quite matter-of-fact, “Nathan, you’re weird!” Nathan then made a sound somewhat like “Nuuuuuuuh-uggggggggh!” (I translated it to a loud and clear “Jeepers!”) He turned, looked at me, and then asked, “Mom, how do you talk to her?!” I laughed.

Nathan could build and sustain a nation in Travian, strategically overrun and subdue the terrorists when playing airsoft, and survive a brutal check against the boards when at the ice rink, yet he could not succeed in a persuasive conversation with his sister. Ah, good luck, maybe when she’s 26 or 36, Nate!

Iz and Nate are 10 years apart, which sometimes seems like a huge age difference. But, no matter what happens, I hope they’ll always be together and remain close, even if they might need an interpreter to make that happen! Despite their personality differences, I know they’re good for each other, not only as brother and sister but as friends. Nate will keep Iz grounded, and Iz will make sure Nate gets off the ground every now and then. ♥

It Was So Nice to See You Nancy Note: While watching the soccer game, there was a lovely tap on my shoulder. It was much too lovely to be from Nate's Dad, and when I looked up, I saw Nancy! We used to work together...jeez, nine long months ago. I had told her last night that I was going to be near where she lived today, so she stopped by just to chat! It was lovely to see you; and you made my day.

Outcome of Nathan's Soccer Game Note: They won 4-1, and they play Maynard tomorrow!!!!