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-To catch up on accounts around here.. is about impossible. The kids are amusing every day. If it doesn't get written it gets forgotten. Here are a few things I still remember.

We were eating supper Saturday and Ms. Pikachu declared she was stuffed, she was bloated.. Trainboy responded with "Bloated is loaded." I still think it's funny.

Both of them are very much into bodily function humor. Ms. Pikachu can entertain herself for what feels like hours by just doing gas-passing imitations and commentary. When going down the road you just turn off the radio and let her put on a show. Fwwwt. "Oh there was a big one!" Splllllllt. "That was a big juicy one. I think it's eating a hole in my underwear." Trainboy laughs. It only encourages her. Sppppwoooot. "That one was so big it ripped out my pants!" Splplplplpl. "Open the windows or we're all gonna to die!"

She delights in obnoxious behavior. As a parent you try to moderate that. We're not trying to raise barbarians. But sometimes you just join in and go with it. A few days ago I showed her the George Carlin manuever. That's where you bend a finger down to the palm and then stick the bent knuckle up to a nostril. It looks like the rest or your finger is up your nose. The wife did not think that I was helping. I tried. Ms Pikachu thought it was screams. As long as she has a finger up her nose she isn't making farting sounds.

For supper this evening we went to an indoor play area for kids. It's one of those places with a couple stories of tubes the kids can crawl through, obstacles to run through. Little kids love it. Ms. Pikachu does not love it anymore. She's gotten big enough she can't blitz through them like she once did. She declared it boring and focused on her Game Boy.

Fortunately, we weren't there for very long and a woman brought her boy to our table. His name was Christopher, and he actually is in Trainboy's class. Away they went at high speed. Watching the tubes it was never long before catching another glimpse of them running, sliding and screaming with great joy and abandon. By the time he got back to the table for pizza he was quite flushed.

It was a good thing for him because a few weeks ago he had sadly informed me he didn't have any friends. His friend at school had moved away and he didn't have a friend anymore. God that hurt. What do you say? A five-year-old isn't interested in platitudes. And you can't fool them into thinking people are interchangeable, they know better than that. Sometimes it seems the most important moments defy words and all that's left, is to hold a hand, or to give a hug.

Seeing him play with Christopher made me as happy as he was. Oftentimes when you're a kid you feel so alone. When you become a parent you realize that while you were riding life's rollercoaster your parents were right behind you, hanging on, giving a word of encouragement, often not able to do much more than just be there.

Christopher's mother asked if maybe Trainboy could visit a few times this summer. You know she's trying her best for her son too. The wife said certainly, and perhaps Christopher could visit too. This could be a memorable summer for Trainboy. All of them are for his parents.

Publicserf