On many evenings, Mike will walk over to you and grab your hand saying “Walk! Walk mommy! Walk!”. He will lead you to the front door and proclaim that he wants to go outside. Once he gets outside – he’ll announce that he is going to Todd and Maureen’s house.
This weekend, Todd and Maureen were having a gathering at their house (a small party for Angie) and they invited us over. Mike grab our hands and said “Walk!” and we said “ok…”. We went to the front door and Mike said “outside” and we said “ok…”. Mike said “Go to Todd and Maureen’s” and we said “ok…”.
He was obviously only Todd and Maureen to be there. At most, he was expecting Angie and her dog Max. He certainly wasn’t expecting a house full of folks! We actually got to see a small “shy” streak! But it only lasted for a minute before he was socializing…
We made our way out to the deck and sat down. Mike started watching on ongoing Corn Hole game. Just in case you’ve never heard of it – it also goes by other names like Bean Bag Toss or Hillbilly Horseshoes. The goal is to toss a “corn bag” (same as a bean bag) on to a board. If it lands on the board you get 1 point. If it goes in the hole on the board you get 3 points.
Mike watched and watched and watched. Teams changed. New games started. And Mike kept watching and studying. He would occasionally point as if he was going to make a grand proclamation about what he was watching. But then he would put his arm down and study some more.
He was obviously studying the game. Learning the rules. I’m sure he was doing “toddler level” calculations on inclined planes and projectile motion (Sid the Science Kid IS one of his favorite shows – and they have “toddler level” episodes on things such as this!).
After some time, the Corn Hole players took a break. Mike grabbed my hand and said “Walk daddy” and he led me to the Corn Hole boards. He stood next to one board for a few seconds – taking it all in. Then he reached down and picked up one of the bags and studied it. Then he looked down at the other board. I said, “Go ahead buddy. Give it a try!”
He looked up at me – then looked at the board some 30 feet away – then looked at the board right next to him – and looked back at me with a very expressive look that said “why throw it all the way down there when I can throw it in the hole right here”…
…which is exactly what he did! And then turned and looked at me with his big grinning face as if to say “see daddy – that was MUCH easier”!
“This game is a lot easier using MY rules!”
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