just a few house rules

Alexander and I are up and out of the house by 9am, early for both of us but exceptionally early for my son.

We are heading downtown to argue yet again why he can't serve on grand jury duty for ten days.  He is starting a winter course January 5th and needs to be back at school. I am going with him for moral support; I will not talk.  I've promised.

But it's raining.  Alexander wants to take the bus, as he doesn't want to risk taking the subway near rush hour (he feels understandably safer in Ithaca).  A half a block away we look at each other and say, "Ya know, we can do this after Christmas."  We turn around and come back home, happy to settle in and watch Episode 5 of Homeland (Season 4).

It's nice to just sit around with my son.  Later, Shari, her husband, and her older son Sam (a friend of Alexander's) are coming over to watch Nightcrawler.  But right now, not doing much of anything is nice.

So I say to Alexander, "I love this.  Let's see if we can spend the whole day not arguing about anything."  

He responds, "Okay. Just don't bring up anything I don't want to talk about. Don't ask me to do anything. Just stay smiling and agree with me on everything.  Don't ask me to make my bed, put away my empty water bottles, or put my dishes in the dishwasher rather than leave them in the living room. Don't bring up anything controversial. Make my meals when I want to eat. Don't tell me I can't leave my razor on the bathroom sink. Don't look at me in that way of yours. Don't speak unless spoken to. And don't ask me about my plans, for tonight or six months from now. Do all that and it'll be easy."