Bizarro Kai

My son came home after his karate class yesterday afternoon and declared that he wanted a haircut.  My son asking for a haircut?  I must still be in the same Bizarro World from Sunday when I insisted that we go to the library while Kai resisted because he didn’t want to miss part of the football game.

Longtime readers may recall when I wrote about how difficult haircut time is at our house.  The usual routine is that Kai resists and says he does not want a haircut.  After much encouragement (or *ahem* threats), he finally sits in the chair.  But, even then, his squirming makes it difficult to cut his hair nicely. 

Recently, however, it hasn’t been as bad.  Taking his grandmother Dell’s suggestion, we began using a cape to keep the cut hairs from sticking to his body.  That drastically reduced the itch factor, and cut down on his squirming.  My wife also tried to make the experience more fun.  She “hired” him to be her assistant as she clipped my hair before she got to his.  It’s funny; this kid who hates to clean up his toys loves to clean up the cut, fallen hair. 

Even so, we had never before seen him volunteer to get a haircut.

But, last night, he was so excited about getting to the haircuts that he didn’t even want to eat dessert.  Before he finished his dinner, he grabbed the dustpan and brush and was ready to go.  We popped some music on the CD player and Mom’s Barber Shop was open once again. 

Kai did his assistant barber’s duties nicely.  Then, he sat still and cooperated beautifully when it was his turn.

I don’t know how long this Bizarro World will last, but I am going to enjoy it while it does.

Note: For those of you not familiar with American pop culture, Bizarro World refers to a fictional place where everything is the opposite of how they should be. 

Bear Down

The Chicago Bears played the Green Bay Packers yesterday in what was one of the most anticipated football games in recent Chicago sports history. 

Before yesterday, my son had shown little interest in watching sports on television.  I think a lot of dads try to infuse their own love of sports onto their sons.  I haven’t had too much success at it with Kai, however, though I usually don’t force it on him too much. 

But, I really wanted to see yesterday’s game, so I set expectations that Dad would be watching football most of the afternoon.  Kai said that he would watch, too.  My wife set up lunch in the family room to make it more of a special event. 

As game-time neared, Kai got more and more excited.  But, I was still skeptical about how long he would be interested in watching.  Before, he would watch for short periods.  Numbers, such as the score and clock, would attract his attention, but it usually doesn’t last very long.  So, I almost never see more than a quarter or so of any game.

When this game started, I pointed out all the numbers in an attempt to maintain his interest: 1^st quarter; 1^st down; 10 yards to go; 35 yard line; 65 yards to go for a touchdown.  There are a lot of numbers in football.

As the Bears fell behind quickly, my enthusiasm for the game diminished a bit.  But, Kai still wanted to watch.

At halftime, the plan was to run out for our weekly trip to the library.  Kai protested that we would miss the game.  I insisted that we go.  What Bizarro World did I step into?  But, we had movies that were due back so we went to the library.  But, he was too angry to look for any books or movies.  He didn’t even want to find any Kidz Bop CDs.

He was angry that we ended up missing a few minutes of the game, but he settled down quickly.  For most of the second half, he was more interested in doodling numbers than in watching the game intently.  But, he still looked up when I cheered as the Bears mounted a comeback.

In the end, the Bears fell short.  But, I got to see most exciting part when I normally would be doing something else with Kai.  Maybe we can still share a father-and-son love of sports.

Now, can anyone find the Bears a better quarterback?