Travels With Gaga

We drive down the street where a newly renovated apartment building has balloons outside the rental office. Messiah:  Gaga, what if there weren't no balloons? Gaga:  ... Any balloons, Messiah.  What if there weren't any balloons? Messiah:  Yeah. Gaga:  Where?  At the party store?  Walgreen's?  The grocery store? Messiah: ANYWHERE! Gaga:  Uh...um... Julian:  Messiah.  Nothing would change.  The world would be the same.  Technically, it wouldn't make any difference at all. Gaga:  Well, I don't know...I think it would be sad if there were no balloons anywhere.  Balloons are fun! They're colorful and make people happy.  I like balloons. Messiah:  OK, so what if there weren't any? Gaga:  I guess we'd have to buy more flowers and party hats and decorations.  We'd still find a way to celebrate. Messiah:  I think it would be bad.  Very bad.  Julian:  Messiah, don't worry.  There will always be balloons. Messiah:  PHEW.

 With the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine, we committed anew to spend time with each grandchild individually, giving them the attention and space that Julian has enjoyed his whole life.  This weekend it was Jaylon's turn.  When you have them separately, their personalities really reveal themselves; they are not just feeding off each other or showing off for their siblings, or jockeying for position.  It took Jaylon a good two hours to calm down enough for us to see what his real likes, interests, and conversations are like.  He is by far the silliest of the three boys, and also extremely provocative; pushing the envelope at every opportunity.  That said, after he calmed down, he was dear and delightful and in some ways very matter-of-fact and straightforward.  We played, we attempted to read to him ("too boring"), our dear friends came over to visit with him, we had dinner, he took a bath, and I got him dressed for bed.  On the way home, he started talking about Halloween

 To be honest, driving the boys from their house to my house in the morning, cooking them their favorite breakfast, and taking them to the bus can be tiring.  It's a lot of driving, it's early rising, and by the time I am scheduled to start work, I've already been up and moving for four hours.  FOUR HOURS.   The flip side is the reward.  Having kids captive in the car (ok, I'm also captive...) for a half hour, then feeding them and checking off the requirements (backpack? check. mask? check. tablet and charger? socks?  glasses?  snack? check, check, check...sometimes) and waiting at the bus stop gives us all a predictable, reliable routine.  I know that living closer to their school would get them possibly an additional hour of sleep, but having that hour with me, I tell myself, cannot be all bad.  We talk a lot most days.  And most days, they're great.  One or the other of them may start off on the wrong foot because their shoelace is frayed and won't go throu