Life of the Party

If we are home, The Kraken is naked. Well, mostly naked. (There may only be a couple things cuter than my son in his superhero tighty whiteys. Thankfully he inherited his father’s “it’s there somewhere” bum and not the larger “shelf” butt that is so common on my side of the family.) Why he feels he needs to strip the second he steps into the house, I don’t know. He’s been doing it for years. This is not a battle I chose to fight. We have an understanding that “Nakey Time” is appropriate in the house but not so suitable in public. We don’t fight about it or even have to talk much about our rule. He is on my train. Or at least I thought he was.

Last night we were invited over by our neighbors for a get together. Hopefully we were invited because they like us and not simply to avoid that awkward “So I saw you had all the neighbors over last night . . .” conversation, though I certainly wouldn’t blame anyone for not inviting us over. We are a loud, ornery, bratty, tantrum-throwing bunch. The Kraken immediately teamed up with the big kids and headed to the basement to play. We didn’t hear any screaming nor did we smell any smoke and thus assumed all was well. For the first time ever, he was basically unsupervised and the world did not implode. I believe we are making progress.

The Kraken’s choice for BFF, (a term I promised myself I would never use), decided to don his Halloween costume so, naturally The Kraken also wanted to play dress up. He asked me if I would go get his Captain America costume, but I was too lazy to walk three houses down to get it. He smiled and said he had a better idea anyway. That should have tipped me off, but as my social anxiety was having my brain come up with all the horrible things that would happen to me if I said something stupid, I missed that little clue.

A few minutes later, The Kraken came bounding up the stairs enthusiastically wearing his better idea . . . His Mickey Mouse underware and soccer shin guards. That’s it. He laughed, placed his hands on his hips and did his best impersonation of a superhero. He was adorable. I was oddly proud of him and his imagination. Daddy was a little embarrassed.

We may be throwing the next neighborhood bash, just to ensure an invite.