Visitors

What a day yesterday! Anna, April and Steven arrived. A four-year old in my house! He is an interesting kid. He totally investigated every inch of the house and garden. He rearranged a lot. We have a bowl of sea glass on a table in the family room and I continue to find hands-full of this glass stashed throughout the house. I gave him several kid-sized garden tools which he used to dig in the yard. Loved that.

It is very difficult to understand what he is saying and he is still in diapers. He ate a lot of chocolate and not much else while he was here as he was just too interested in his surroundings.

As a person whose job included observing that aged child, I find him so interesting. I am not sure if there is a delay issue or if what I am seeing is a result of a lack of any structure due to a lack of parental follow-through. He eats only when he feels like eating. He eats only what he wants to eat. He has a short list of seven foods that he will eat. Maybe. At four, he should be sitting at the table with his parents trying the foods that are traditional to their family.

He will be many months into his fifth year when he should be going to kindergarten but April is thinking of holding him back a year. She just doesn't want to let him go. I have known several cases of parents choosing this option but each child had difficulty graduating from high school. Too old. Too mature.

Dinner was great. So many leftovers that Michael brought them into work. Tonight: Ancho Chili with mashed potatoes and cabbage. The praline covered cake was a huge hit.

While finishing dinner, Anna's phone rang. It was their father, Grant. The father who left them all when they were little never to be heard from again. The father who we tracked down about 14-years ago. The father who recently phoned each of Michael's five siblings to apologize for being absent in their lives. During the phone call, he told Anna he loved her. Better late than never! What were the odds that he would make contact while she was with her siblings?

Anna looked great. She had lost about 30 pounds and, with her hair and glasses, so reminded me of the Anna I knew in the early 1970's. Downright cute! At 60-years old! April is always beautiful and, I swear, a size zero. She is such a nice woman and I really enjoy our time together.

Today we are headed to the goat farm and lunch at the dive that is delicious and so famous. Early tomorrow morning, we will go to the tide pools just north of us for a few hours then head to the Apple Headquarters for a shopping spree - their request. T-shirts for everyone!