Gee, thanks, son

I had a busy afternoon yesterday.

Nolan had a special band practice.  Ordinarily, not a big deal, but it was held at a school far from home, and I had to just hang out and wait for him at the school with the other kids.

I figured we'd shoot hoops or something like that.   I was foiled by really strong winds and blowing dust; and my plan B (the DVD player) was forgotten at home. 

I found a diversion watching the jr high girls practicing for upcoming cheerleading tryouts.

Oh, my God.

When did cheerleading become such serious business?  There were girls in there just practicing that were waaay better than many high school squads I remember from back in the day.

Um.  Wow.  Somewhere between the cheer, the dance moves, and the gymnastics, I started wishing I wasn't sitting there with a 4 year old riveted to the action.  For that matter, I started wishing the two impressionable boys weren't sitting there with me too, catching a glimpse of Gyrating 101.

It was really something else.  

Anyway, later, we met up with Nolan outside, and as the girls were doing these amazing tumbling runs, I made him look into the window.  He looked for just a second, and I thought he wasn't interested.  Hmm.

We're walking away, and he says, "So, what did you do while I was rehearsing?"  and both Ben and I simultaneously replied, "We watched the cheerleaders."

The look on Nolan's face said it all.   He looked over his shoulder at us, little grin on his face...and I swear I could see him thinking that we got the better end of the deal.

And I realized that he would've looked through that window a little longer had his Mom not been standing right there next to him. 

Aww...my little boy is growing up.

Ack....my little boy is growing up.

We had to book it to their school, for another function.  It was late when we left that, and we still had homework to do, so I hit McDonald's on the way home.

I had to go inside, as they all needed the bathroom (big surprise), and the drive-thru was really busy. 

Our order took a looong time due to the staff being a little slow (on so many levels).  As we waited, Nolan stood next to me.  He gestures and says, "Mom, there's something on your jaw."  "What?"  I put up my hand, expecting to draw back a smudge of facepaint (Audrey had butterflies drawn on hers, and that stuff always winds up all over me, too)...no.  Oh, man.  Sigh.

"It's a zit."  It's enormous, of course, and I'm sure that it's been lurking all night, out there at the school, for everyone to see, because there is no way to miss it.

"That's not a zit," he says, "That's Mount Blemish."

Niiiiice.  Dissed by my own child.  "You suck,"  I told him, because at that moment, my last shred of "edit yourself" was used up.  (The demon mistress PMS can only be held back for sooo long between chocolate sacrifices...he's lucky my head didn't spin.)

He giggles.  I remind him to be more diplomatic.  But it's funny, so I crack up in the end. 

"Your day will come,"  I told him, as I pushed his shoulder.

Little does he know that it'll come and go sooner than he thinks.