You’re out for dinner.

You’re having a chat in your booth when a rogue child suddenly appears at your table. Everybody stops to look at the Junior Runaway, living the romantic nomadic life between sticky tables and wobbly chairs at the chain restaurant. There are smiles, a couple friendly hellos, and then a parent appears to claim the child.

Rogue children appear anywhere parents are busy and kids are bored. Furniture showrooms, bank lineups, dentist offices, all fine places to spot endangered rogue children in their natural setting. Keep your eyes peeled for these three-foot creatures, who will likely be shy and curious, and pose no threat unless threatened, in which case they will bite.

Let’s let rogue children remind us that the world is a pretty simple place.

We’re all little kids wandering around looking for interesting things.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

Do you remember RSVPs?

Yes, back in second grade when I scored a birthday party invite there was some social protocol that followed. I put the brightly colored cardboard on the fridge, we checked the kitchen calendar, and my mom phoned the other kid’s mom to let them know I’d be there.

The RSVP was my firm, unwavering commitment to an afternoon full of sweaty backyard races, spicy carpetburn, and screaming sugar highs. When you said you’d be there you’d be there.

These days the world is full of buzzing phones, double-booking, and changing plans. Texts sit unanswered, parties shrink and shift, and sometimes nobody knows who’s coming or going.

That’s where pinky swears come in.

When someone offers a pinky, they’re showing that they’re actually interested in following through. Accept that pinky and you enter into an unbreakable promise to get there too.

Locking pinkies and making the oath of commitment is a break from the World of Waffling. Suddenly the half-smile and headnod expectations we had get airlifted to a higher place. After pinky-promising to host the party, ask him to prom, or finish the project, we’re suddenly sitting together on the top of the mountain – with the world of empty seats, unasked questions, and broken promises lying far, far below us.

AWESOME!

Pink sunrises over shimmering seas, cracking storms booming over mountaintops, deep blues dimming as the winters freeze, stars twinkling high as your brain just … stops. How high is high, how far does it go, why do clouds smear like that, what makes a rainbow? Yes, it’s a freeing feeling zooming out of your brain and into the unknown — staring up into the sky, as the clouds roll by, way past the trees, deep into the stars, as our spinning world reminds us how small we all are.

AWESOME!

Do you ever get the Sheet Twister going?

That’s where you open your eyes in the morning to discover your pajamas halfway up your stomach, your arms dented with pillow zippers, and most of the sheets mysteriously twisted around one of your legs? Now you only have two choices and neither of them are great:

1. Get up. Whip the bed into a freshly made rectangle of coziness and get back to sleeping in. The only problem is that during the 15-second reset you may accidentally wake yourself up, realize you need to pee, and jostle your brain just enough to prevent falling asleep again.

2. Stay down. Keep the coziness but settle for the chills. Sure, you might try to peel the blanket back over you, but then the sheet doesn’t come up with it or your feet are suddenly feeling open air. Maybe you have one of those five-second freakouts where you kick your arms and legs like a wild animal trying to get everything organized. But this just gets your heart rate motoring and ends up in a crumpled sheet explosion.

Now, neither of these tricks does the job which is why it’s great when someone makes the bed with you in it. Suddenly your sleep-in gets extended into a tightly fitted sheet trapping, pillow flapping, body wrapping moment of

AWESOME!

Photos from: here

Illustration from Monsieur Cabinet

What are your brainjam words?

For me, I mix up ‘know’ and ‘now’ every single time I use them.

Yes, some neural pathways fused together in my brain twenty years ago and since then I always do a three-second triple-check-stutter-step whenever I’m writing either word out a sentence. Spellcheck stays silent and grammar check can’t be trusted, so I’m forced to actually think about whether or not I’m using these words the right way.

Brainjam words are any word you mess up every single time you use it.

Now if you’re like me Brainjam Word Fear sometimes results in bad reactions:

1. The Wraparound. You’re so afraid of the brainjam that you write a long sentence that avoids using the word altogether, even if it makes the sentence sound terrible. If you don’t comprehend what I mean, let me be told.

2. Wordfind paranoia. Before handing in a big essay, you’re so paranoid about submitting with brainjam words that you actually do a search in the document to find every single instance of them for octuple-checking.

3. Complete self-confidence meltdown. If you’re like me this is where your frustration with your inability to spell a three-letter word boils up to the point where you punch a monitor and leave a broken keyboard covered in hot salty tears on your desk. Not a pretty scene.

Of course, these bad reactions are what makes spelling your brainjam word feel so good. It’s a personal victory in the lifelong battle against those neural pathways that are always out to get you. “Maybe,” you think to yourself, after using the right ‘there’, spelling ‘a lot’ as two words, or use the right ‘its’, “I will never doubt myself again.”

“Maybe today is the day for new beginnings.”

“Maybe today is the day for victory.”

“Maybe today is the day for

AWESOME!

Photos from: here and here

There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned holiday hissy fit in an elbow-to-elbow packed mall to help soothe your fraying nerves.

Whether it’s the snotty-nosed toddler wailing on Santa’s lap, the sweaty snowsuit screamer on the floor of the toys section, or just your everyday baby bawler yelling to the food court heavens, it doesn’t matter.

It’s just a migraine moment in the middle of mall mayhem.

And whether you’re taking care of your baby brother, babysitting the neighbors, or wheeling around your own mutant offspring, we’ve all been there. We all know the stress, we see the staring eyes, we all know the pain, and … we do sympathize.

But it’s still great when that kid crying in the mall just isn’t your kid.

Hark! The herald angels sing.

Glory to the kid free king.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

New jeans feel like cardboard.

Nope, they don’t bend around your body and don’t break around your butt. They just hold you tight in their Blue Deathgrip of Stiffness until three months of wearing them without washing results in faded knees, soft pockets, and comfy creases.

Yes, jeans, baseball gloves, couches, maybe they all take a while to work in. Maybe we buy them knowing the uphill battle of time, effort, and stiffness are eventually all worth it for the softness at the end.

That basement couch is the best of all.

Years and years and years of sitting finally helped the couch get demoted someplace nobody cares about it. Stains on the cushions, missing buttons, and cat-shredded armrests only add to the comfy feeling. Whatever, broken springs, brown zig-zag patterns, and foam puffs popping out all over the place. Those just helps us cave right into the twisted blanket cocoon in front of the flickering TV.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

AWESOME!

Babies are explorers.

Wombs expand to rooms which open into homes and unknowns. I always think tiny newborns swaddled in strollers on the sidewalk probably feel like astronauts on the furthest edges of the universe. Sky water, ear-shattering bangs, and blinding bright lights help baby realize she’s way, way out in the ether.

But back home is a safe place to start exploring. Mommy-Snugglers, Crib Country, and Playpen Worlds eventually open into distant lands beyond bedroom doors. Crawling leads to discoveries such as kitty litter deserts, toilet water swamps, and hidden forests of chair legs under kitchen tables. Eventually there’s freezing ceramic tile tundras, the forbidden stairs, and the strange discovery of silent twisted coil creatures behind doors.

Coil doorstops must first appear strange – lying still without camouflage, smooth and cool to the touch, with a finely twisted base leading to a smudged rubbery nub. Furrowed eyebrows, steely baby gaze, and some steady one-handed balancing eventually lead to the big moment…

Flicking a coil doorstop back and letting it twang forward fills babies with a brain-clicking sense of satisfaction. Way out here on Linoleum Ridge deep in Front Hallway Galaxy is a strange enemy that appears undefeatable. Pull it back for a threatening lion’s roar but then watch it snap to pre-attack mode – just waiting, waiting, waiting — like a quiet crocodile at the edge of the pond.

These days tripping over coil doorstops when you’re sneaking in after curfew, kicking one while taking out the trash, or just twanging it back for no reason at all fills us all — and fills the hall — with a primal sense of satisfaction.

Plus it’s a little mental mindwarp to your baby exploring days.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here and here