Stamp Me Adorable

Can you call yourself eco-friendly if you ride your bike four miles round-trip to the Post office, and then once you’re there decide you’re too tired to go the extra quarter-mile to Wal-Mart, come home and then drive to Wal-Mart later? It’s not easy being green.

T.Puzzle started the day in one of his standard moods. He’s feeling contentious and surly. I’ve come to expect it. So after Full Speed was in school for the day I decided to hop on my bike to get me some exercise and to get T.Puzzle some fresh air to improve his mood. I was slightly apprehensive about how he would behave in the confines of the Post Office. The good news was that I planned on it being short and sweet. Even if he reached a level 9 or 10 the other patrons and the workers of the Post Office would only be subjected to it for a short time.

He’s quiet on the ride because he has a Toy Story snack container filled with Goldfish and Cheerios. You can’t throw tantrums with a full mouth (okay, yes you can and believe me, it is ain’t pretty). Anyway, he is munching and peaceful. So far so good.

As we enter the Post Office he immediately heads to the packing materials and points out the padded envelopes decorated with assorted Mickey Mouses. He loves the Mouse. He proceeds to say “Hello!” to each and every person in the building. Then he starts to feel emboldened and begins making wider and wider exploratory circles away from me. Soon he is leafing through various pamphlets (he must have important and specialized mailings to complete that I don’t know about to be doing so much Post Office reading) and attempting to knock down the rope-like dividers that show you where to form a line. I grab him as I am now at the service counter and plop him down next to my packages that I need to have weighed and mailed. I thought at least this would keep him in one spot and he might possibly be entertained with a higher view of the area.

He instantly turns and starts flirting with the Post Office worker. She quickly falls head over heels for him. He points out the Mickeys, tells her he’s two, that he was on a bike ride all while smiling a radiant, angelic smile at her (he has killer dimples). Pretty soon, the worker next to ours starts making over him too. T.Puzzle is so in-your-face-adorable that he earns a Post Office sticker. They can’t get enough of this guy.

I can’t believe he is being so good. There is not a trace of a tantrum in his cooing, unassuming voice. I’m actually having quite a nice time and I’m at the Post Office. I didn’t know it could be like this.

“Well, you know, he wasn’t so cute this morning,” I say still disbelieving this is my surly little T.Puzzle they are fawning over. I gave the worker a Mom-to-Mom wink and a nod.

“Oh, that’s to be expected,” she pipes in. “And, you’d be upset too if you had to wear a Steelers jersey (sorry Mad Dog, she said it not me).” Everyone laughs and T.Puzzle heartily joins right in. He giggles like that is the funniest single line he’s ever heard.

We head out the door and get on the bike. We sing silly songs and he makes crazy noises which makes me burst into laughter. I’m having a blast with him.

Whoever designed two year olds is crazy like a fox. They knew enough to make sure that any two year old tyrannical attempts to overthrow parental power were equally (mostly) balanced with in-your-face adorability (I think that’s a word, right? If it’s not it should be created right here right now because T.Puzzle was that cute today).

The icing on my cupcake is when we came home; T.Puzzle entertained himself quietly with a puzzle. A puzzle of all things! No crazy car chases, no forcing me to sing the ABCs against my will (he’s very passionate about them), just quiet puzzle-play. Maybe I should go to the Post Office every day.

PS- Giving prayers of remembrance today on the anniversary of September 11 and feeling grateful to be raising a family in a country that affords us so much freedom.