sj, I'm so glad to hear that J is doing well!! Continued healing and health~ma to him.

And now for a Happy Break! I have to share this nibblet from my friend I's Flickr stream, which she uses as a blog. There's a picture of her three-year-old son L. in dark clothes and a cape pointing ominously at the camera, and this is the caption:

L. is always proclaiming himself to be particular superheroes with particular superpowers. This works out well: we loved Mystery Men, and it's like living with an ongoing live performance of the film. He has recently declared himself Cheeseman, with the power to cover people in cheese, and Scream Man, with the power to scream very loudly and make everyone leave the room (which he demonstrated, and it turns out: yes, he is that superhero, and he does possess that superpower).

The other day he announced a superhero identity that made me think he'll probably acquire his parents' predilection for making lists of things to do:

“I am a superhero, and my name is Super Done, because I am DONE with things. I’m going to the DONE-geon now to fight bad guys. That’s why my name is Done Man. SuperDone, Done Man… to the rescue!”

And one more for good measure--this is under a picture of L. looking extremely happy as he sits next to a skeleton, and I know the caption will make Jilli a happy Fairy Gothmother:

When L. was an infant, I read Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation and fell in love with her three-year old nephew Owen, whom she describes as “the most Hitchcockian preschooler I ever met.” (“He’s three,” she writes. “He knows maybe ninety words and one of them is ‘crypt.’) It’s a few years later, and L. has wound up with a morbid streak of his own that I find just as charming as I’d earlier found Owen’s. He’s a budding Burton/Elfman fan who sings “This Is Halloween” at top volume on the playground. He delights in creepy stories, in monsters and ghosts and all things spooky. He does a very credible Draculian “I vant to suck your blood!”

Many years ago, my mother gave me a tabletop-sized anatomical skeleton model. I had it in the storage area off of the walk-in closet in our bedroom, which you get to through this half-sized door with a hinky latch that never closes firmly. L. followed me into the closet earlier this summer. The storage area door had come unlatched and was hanging open. He saw the little skeleton guy standing in there and, as you might well imagine, was curious about it. I brought it out, showed him how the skeleton guy worked, and satisfied his curiosity.

…For a little while, at least. Before much time had passed, he was asking about it again. I brought it down to the living room so he could play with it to his heart’s content. …And did he! He immediately dubbed his new friend “Mister Skeleton” and for about a week, he insisted that Mister Skeleton accompany him everywhere. He carried on whispered conversations with Mister Skeleton. He dragged Mister Skeleton around the house by one arm, like a twisted Halloween version of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

Mister Skeleton had to sit at the table with us to eat lunch. Mister Skeleton had to sit on the loveseat next to us and read stories. Mister Skeleton had to go play outside with us in the sandbox. We forgot about Mister Skeleton one day, and I noticed several hours later that Mister Skeleton was still sitting out in the sandbox by his lonesome, surrounded by empty pails and buckets. I wonder what the neighbors must think of us.

I think msbelle aspires to be Super Done.

::steals rest of pixie's story to file away and use in best selling children's novel::

You'd be stealing I's story, not mine, and she's a writer already...so I think you'd be out of luck!

Too funny, though, aren't they? I adore her stories about L.

Sean, god, that sounds like the Awfullest Shit Ever.I'm so sorry.

sj, I'm so glad to hear that J is doing well!! Continued healing and health~ma to him.

Thank you! He really is such a spirited child. It was nice to see that spirit still strong when I visited. It finally calmed down my worries.

{{Sean}} What they all said. You are no good for anybody if you don't take care of yourself.

Even in a clear-cut relationship (such as, dude, my MOM) sometimes you need to back off and give yourself some breath during a long illness with no end in sight.

So much this. I cared for both my dad and my husband when they were gravely ill and they both had periods of, well madness really. The blessing was that they didn't remember this when they were lucid.

Take care of yourself dear. This is so very hard. Love you.

Oh Sean. What they all said. This is heartbreaking.

Take care of yourself for the next 24 hours, OK? Everyone will earn from this.

Made it through work today.

Thanks everyone.

Sean, what everyone said. Much cope~ma

I have to say that I am much relieved by how much better Daniel seemed when he got home from work today. Apparently, it was a case of getting the blood pumping, rather than having what little strength was there get sapped by the strain. So, yay, and thanks for that powerful Buffista ~ma.