Elbows

On Saturday evening, Ellie informed me that, "Penguins don't have elbows." That simple little nugget of wisdom came to her at church. It was also something that must have given me an entertained expression, because Ellie went on to tell everyone seated in the pews around her, the very same thing. The chuckles must have emboldened our priest; the ensuing homily seemed more lengthy than usual.

On Sunday, Benett was adamant that for each story we read, the ending had to change. He wanted the first time through to be read as written. The second time around, he requested a new ending. Okay... Interesting request... and not all that easy, especially when the literature topic is rainbows. I don't know many alternate endings that don't involve ROY G. BIV.  Reading to a child is not always an easy thing to do, and shouldn't be taken lightly... There is a lot going on in those young minds.

Gavin also had a request yesterday, one that topped them all. He wanted to wrestle. He wanted to wrestle with everyone in the house. No matter how big or small. He wanted to really, wrestle. The whole deal. No half-measures allowed. After getting his wish, he wanted to watch wresting tutorials on YouTube, only to ask everyone to wrestle again, so he could inflict his new moves.

All three of these examples can mean only one thing. The little people have got full-blown cabin fever. Everyone is restless and tired of being cooped up. The adults included; I'm beyond tired of the treadmill and the same old view.

So we made an effort to get some measured doses of outdoors. A nice long snowshoe trek, with sled in tow, meant that Ellie had an opportunity to live like her elbow-less penguins for an hour. Gavin was able to burn off some of his energy goo. And my run, outside, yesterday reminded me that there are good things about the treadmill. Temperature and incline control topping the list.

As for Benett... well he was no dummy. He wanted nothing to do with the -32 wind-chill. He opted to remain inside. As a result, we're planning a pool-side hotel stay for next weekend. I'm not sure I can take two weekends in a row of alternate ending requests.