A "Family(?)" Day

So I got up early and got to Lisa's by 8 AM hopefully to make them breakfast or participate in whatever breakfast Lisa had in mind. Why so early? Because they have an invite to go to a social distancing walk with their next door neighbors... probably to meet the new neighbors across the street too who has a pair of twin boys not even 2 years old. Anyway the walk was not on Lisa's mind upon waking up this morning. And neither was breakfast really. Fortunately, Johnnie did down a banana because I'm sure he was hungry while his mom spent the next hour lollygagging around actually. She talked about this and that... talked about what she needed to get from the grocery store, which is actually a list of stuff she wanted ME to get because she hasn't ventured to a grocery store since we all went on lockdown. Chia seeds and Illy coffee yet. She has a hard life let me tell you. Anyway she did manage to get out the door with Johnnie right around 9:10 AM, when the group next door had already started the walk. She thought it was just going to be a walk-up and meet-and-greet. Now they're going for a real walk. And with them gone, NOW I can go get a real breakfast at McDonald's. I'm only sorry I didn't bring Johnnie anything. This is what grates me about her. I can almost hear her "Ahh, he's ok... he had a banana".  Man no wonder she has weird eating habits. Which is why I double down on the routine when I have Johnnie. He'll be eating Panda Express on Wednesdays until he's in his teens. Anyway this gets me a chance to go home and do stuff I want to do. Go try to be a nice guy why don't I?! Actually, Lisa asked me to pick up Johnnie around lunchtime so she could play the piano. And for her, knowing her, I know she has a spate of phone calls she usually gets inundated with on a Saturday. Which is what she was in the middle of when I came by around noon. Hey I didn't care... I was only all too glad to be getting Johnnie and I some quality time together in my apartment and away from Lisa.  I brought her her first round of groceries from Trader Joe's. And then in the afternoon, Johnnie and I went to Whole Foods to fetch the rest. Johnnie is so trained he even knows the Illy coffee she likes, down to the branding on the can. That's good actually. Wouldn't want to get THAT wrong! In the meantime Johnnie also got to spend a couple of hours in my apartment. Not that he's not independent when he's at Lisa's but maybe he's a little too independent because more likely than not, Lisa simply leaves her alone. My apartment is so small, I can keep an eye on him regardless of what I do and regardless of what he does. He also always makes drawings for his mom as a present. By the time we got all the errands done and got back to Lisa's house it was already late in the afternoon. And she was STILL on the phone when we got there. She was on the phone when we left, she's on the phone hours later LOL. Normally I would have just dropped Johnnie off... but Lisa mentioned making dinner tonight and I was trying to be respectful. And so I accepted. And besides, Johnnie is happiest when his mom and his dad are in the same place together.

The thing was is that Johnnie is totally different when he is there at his mom's house. And by 5 PM, it was clear that he had gotten energized to do something. So much so he was bouncing off his mom like he would be doing horseplay with me. Except that I know how not to get hurt and I know how to protect myself. Poor Lisa is reduced to yelling. And she told me this was about the time she ends up doing something with him outside to calm him down. This is where I have the advantage with Cat-In-the-Hat and Tumble Leaf.  He does not need to burn off energy then. Nor does he need to watch his behavior as he most certainly becomes his best lest I change my mind and not allow him to watch. Today since we are here, you do what Lisa does. When in Rome you understand. And so we all went for a walk around the neighborhood. Actually, Johnnie started to collect some leaves and that exercise actually calmed him down. As did the walk in general. It calmed Lisa down too as soon as she got a chance to talk to some of the neighbors out and about, including the new neighbors across the way. In fact, she had it in her mind to give them a present and had Johnnie make it up while she cooked salmon. I think she did that to give Johnnie something to do to occupy him, which actually did work. Except that he wanted ME to help him of course. And so he and I did the present. And then mom and son walked it across the street, leaving me to look after a boiling pot of chicken broth with spinach and the salmon. Lisa, lisa, lisa. She is incapable of talking for just a few minutes. It always has to turn into some to-do that lasts at least 10 minutes and sometimes longer. I didn't care. I was prepared for that to happen actually, at least emotionally. All I wanted to do at this point is eat dinner and go home. Lisa always talks about having a "family" night... of course as she introduces me as Johnnie's dad who doesn't live at the house but hey, you'll see him there often. I had no such family tendencies. I AM Johnnie's dad and much as I would prefer to eat my own food, at least Lisa did try to make dinner. Her soup was a little too tangy ... much too much lemon, much too less salt, But I wasn't going to say anything. Not after she was gushing over it. The samon was good and I stayed just long enough to do the dishes and watch Lisa start cleaning her kitchen. Mom and son talked of camping outside tonight. Good deal. I, on the other hand, am still experiencing leg soreness from both legs in the front lower tibial muscles and my upper back. I know it is some kind of emotional reaction and it is actually stress and negative emotions manifesting themselves. All I read say to simply let it ride as your body needs to do purging. Doesn't explain why my legs are sore though. At least i did manage to get a decent night's sleep. And as Saturday's go, this could have been worse. Knowing Lisa, tests are on the way. and I must be ready.