Satur-dates

Jones did so well when he and I saw the South Carolina Children's Theatre's production of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" last December that I decided to press our luck with a TWO ACT show! I figured it's a story that's set in a barnyard, so that alone would hold his attention.

And it did.

This is me bribing him with the promise of treats,
if he'd just smile like a normal person. He never did.

He really enjoyed "Charlotte's Web." We'd read a little bit of the book. I bought it thinking he was big enough to sit through chapters at a time, and he did OKAY with that. He picked up several plot points, but he definitely got restless when the readings went long, so then I showed him the 1970s Debbie Reynolds cartoon to be sure he went in familiar with the story.

It worked.

He went in knowing who was who and what to expect. He also went in wearing a "Special Agent Pen" clipped to his sweater vest and a carabiner hooked to his red corduroy belt loop. Whatever floats his special agent boat.

Mom and Daddy met us at the Peace Center for the show. I'd gotten the same front row seats we landed for "Charlie Brown," and that works really well for his age. That way, if he gets a little restless, he's not disturbing anyone on the rows in front of us, because there IS no row in front of us.

For this show, even though it was two acts with an intermission (as opposed to "Charlie Brown," which was only about 40 minutes), he didn't get too restless. There were a handful of times he'd get out of his seat and wander over to my lap, but for the most part, I was VERY proud of his behavior and how he stayed engaged with the show. The only time he got anxious was when there was a storm on the farm. He didn't like the thunder effects.

After the show, he met both Charlotte and Wilbur, and he got a show poster to hang beside the one he got after "Charlie Brown." These things are $1 and make a GREAT momento of the show - Jones LOVES to pin them to his bedroom wall. When I asked him his favorite part of the show, he said, "the farm."

Surprise, surprise.

After that, he and I had a lunch date to Trio. He told the hostess, "Table for two," and was VERY proud when I let him use my credit card to pay for our meal. I was very proud of how well he behaved.

While we were on OUR "Satur-date," Jeremy and Freddie stayed closer to home. They went to E's swim meet and then to "Chuck E. Cheese." It was Freddie's first visit, since he was an infant, and the boys and I tagged along with Mayme and Sissy's kids.

Though Jeremy said it was the worst pizza he'd ever had, Freddie had fun playing the games and even won a prize (a pack of Skittles). All in all, I'd say both boys had a pretty terrific day.

When I was asking Freddie about his outing at bedtime, he said he'd gone to "Chicky Cheese." I said, "What was your favorite part?" He said, "He's got red shoes just like ME does and like Jones does and like Ahjay does. Of course, now that the boys are beginning to outgrow their iconic red Kids, I was THRILLED that he picked up on that - and that he picked up on the fact that his buddy Ahjay wears them, too.

Speaking of, next week, we'll be seeing our buddy Ahjay, which will surely warrant a post all its own!

Jeremy took these "Chicky Cheese"
pics with his phone.