Being a mom, I pay more attention to the mom jokes like hiding in the bathroom away from children so a favorite candy bar can’t be sniffed out before said mom gets a chance to devour it.
I used to laugh at the videos parents posted of tiny hands reaching under the door. I don’t laugh anymore – Jonathan, now officially two-years-old, now knocks and tries to twist open doorknobs.
I am hiding but not hiding. I am in plain sight if he needs to find me all he has to do is walk into the kitchen. But alas he is occupied with “If You Gave a Mouse a Cookie” series on Amazon. Judge if you must, but mommy needed just 30 or so minutes to get a little bit of work done, and the laptop seems to be a magically beacon drawing the little one near.
Christmas with a toddler is a bit more interesting than last year. Tree ornaments hold enough wonder to be yanked off the branch along with the needles. I have given up putting ornaments within his reach back on the tree. I do treasure the pictures of baby gates around trees. Not in our house JD would think – challenge accepted and be climbing it in no time. This is the child who climbed out of a pack and play within a few weeks.
Presents under the tree? Before Christmas? Not this year. I didn’t test a theory at our house, but he did pick up a decorated wrapped present at a business and tried opening it. He knows wrapping paper is meant to be ripped up – tiny piece by tiny piece. He knows the wrapping paper is surrounding something fun – books, blocks, toys.
He turned two last weekend – just days after the verdict was released Clarkston High School senior Thomas Kithierwas ineligible to play basketball for 180 days.
There are many sides to the story and not every detail will be known as why Macomb Dakota, his previous high school, didn’t sign off on the paperwork or why they thought something was off.
It’s hard to stay neutral not because I work in Clarkston. Nor because I have seen student-athletes grow from McGrath League to Clarkston Boys Varsity Basketball. It’s the mom in me bursting out – here is a high school senior who left his previous school for many reasons as did three of his former teammates, who are playing basketball.
Let him play his senior year for the school he wanted to attend.