My Day with LuLu

Today (Monday) LuLu begins summer school. Lisa and I both felt - as did her teacher - that her reading ability was below where it should be (in fact nearly non-existent).. She's actually excited about it, because her self-esteem has taken a big wupping over this issue. Keep in mind, as my Mom said in her defence, when I was growing up we didn't even start reading until 1st grade.

True, but as my Dad countered, it's a different world now. If the kids going into first grade are reading, LuLu needs to be too.

Anyhow, I'd taken her to the doc on Friday for a hacking cough that the pediatrician labeled a 'bad summer cold' and then prescribed antibiotics and bedrest. That doesn't make any sense, but ok. So she's laid low for the weekend. Last night this meant she and I hunkered down to watch Disney's Princess Protection Program together, which turned out to be an ok movie.

Today it was just me, Ginger and Lu at the house, with everyone else scattered here and there. I got it into my head to do some yard work, which was kind of a pain with a 22 month old running around trying to join in the fun. So I sent Lu downstairs to recover an old friend I'd recovered from the flooded basement. Ladies and gentlemen, the hardcore baby backback by Evenflo - the "Trailtech".

Back in the day I remember taking Smiley for a walk in this when he was as old as Ginger and about twice as heavy, and I tossed LuLu in it once a year or so ago before abandoning it to the basement. It was good to have it back.

Once I got the belts all connected, I took out the old push reel mower and did a patch of yard behind our fence, and the front yard. LuLu wanted to help, and I let her use a pair of garden shears to trim the yards edge. Normally I'd use the weed-whacker, but I was out of cord.

After that we emptied and cleaned out the shed, then loaded it all back in in a somewhat organized fashion. I also checked the mouse bait stations I'd left out over the winter, and while one was untouched the other was empty. Little buggers. We had a mouse in our cellar area when we moved in, and I am very aggressive in preventing that from happening again. Ugh.

Anyway, I noticed that LuLu was choosing to ride around on a very old bike of hers, one with training wheels. Somehow I convinced her to try a bigger bike without the training wheels, and while she was nervous she agreed.



So up and down the block we went. She never made it on her own, but there were a few times I'd let go and she'd do fine for a yard or two before panicking and tipping to the side. It was far more tiring than I thought it would be, and I'd have given up after ten minutes but LuLu was gung-ho. The only thing that stopped her in the end was an unfortunate flat tire.

Once we put the bike away I heard the siren call of an ice cream truck and flagged it down, buying a snow cone for LuLu. You could tell on her face that she'd had a great day, and as she was heading off to bed she came up to me and thanked me for everything.

My pleasure LuLu, my pleasure.