Max in full effect

We get home from work one day recently and Max seems to be getting himself all worked up. He says that Luc went for a walk and didn’t return. Its been since 2… or maybe 3 or 4. He doesn’t know. He is just too worked up to bother with timelines. We went about our usual “just got home” routine and wide eyed little Max is on our heels every step of the way seeming more concerned by the minute. Amber had already started dinner and we did a quick glance or two at each other, think a mental version of Rock Paper Scissors… and just like that it was decided that I was to handle the rescue mission for our lost oldest child. With Max, everything is a mission. With theme music. Of course the notion of going out to look is really all for Max’s benefit as we are used to Luc taking off on a walk alone. He likes that and in turn, he is like that. If it was 4 when he left and it was now 5:30… I didn’t really see the concern. Max didn’t see it like that. Every minute we stood around was almost too much for his little video game influenced mind to take… I am sure fearing certain doom had befallen his only big brother. No doubt a laser blaster was involved.

So off we go. Decision on vehicle… bikes are too slow. It’s hot out. White Lightning wins. Check. Cell phone in hand in case he shows up while we are out. Check. Starting on the close streets around our house and making larger circles as we go…check. Getting poor Max to focus on actually looking out the window as a second set of eyes… eventual check. Took some reminding about what we were actually out doing though. Funny kid.

We were done with our neighborhood after having checked the streets, the school playground and even swinging by the neighborhood pool. We also made a pass by the pond (manmade, well manicured and a known Luc spot) just to double check. At this point, I am starting to believe that Max might be onto something. I might be a little worried. It has been a while at this point and we decide to check the school they go to as it’s just a half mile away. We head out of our neighborhood and start heading to the school. The phone rings and I immediately feel a sense of relief knowing that Luc must have just walked up.

Amber is on the other end and she is stifling a laugh. She said Karah had gone to her room to put something away (I know, miracle right?) and she heard something in the room above. Turns out that after our exhaustive perimeter and outlying area search… he was exactly where he usually is, at home in his room. Max insisted for the rest of the evening that he didn’t hear Luc return from his walk… but not before sticking his fingers in his ears and burying his head between his legs to tune me out for a while (his favorite response to getting frustrated at something). This little reaction is actually comical to watch when he is playing video games. I smile a little knowing that the big picture is that Max loves his older brother and was worried about him.

Max is currently on daily lookout for the mail... anxiously awaiting the untold riches that the delivery of his report card will surely bring. I get a status call every afternoon now.

Yes, school is out and the kids are home for the summer. So far they have been getting along and Amber hasn’t had to implement “the Schedule”. In all its glory “the Schedule” is an ultimately fair document… something that somehow gets lost in translation when disseminated by the intended audience. Hopefully we can make it for a few more weeks before drafting the 2010 version. The kids seem almost in disbelief that I still have to go to work during the summer… they look at me like “why do you go somewhere that makes you work almost every day?” Believe me kiddo, I wish I could be cooped up inside the house all day.

A small peek into our day to day lives. I thought it was funny and I hope it came across that way here. Hope everyone is doing well and I hope you all have a great summer.

-bb