Gumby Rules

My nephew was visiting from Atlanta for a couple of days. He wanted to see his grandparents who, coincidentally, live five houses up the road from me. My sister couldn't find my parents, so she called me to see if I knew where they were. Of course. On the walk to school every morning, Mom and Dad usually run through their schedule for the day, so I knew where Mama was, anyway. She was at her weekly appointment at the Beauty Shop getting her hair "set". (Does anyone younger than 60 do this? Is there anyone over 60 who doesn't?)

My sister said that her son wanted to go to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa at a restaurant near our house. I invited myself, and then gave Toni the phone number for Mom's hair dresser. She called back a few minutes later to tell me we were on for 1:00.

Oh, my. I had agreed to keep my friend, Kelly's, son, Kolbe, at 1:00. He and Daelyn are buddies and Kelly had a commitment, so I was delighted at the opportunity of getting the boys together. I quickly called Kelly and left a message asking if I could pick Kolbe up at 12:45 and if it was alright to take him with me to the restaurant. She had agreed to pick my children up from school so Daelyn could take a late nap if I kept Kolbe, so it seemed to be a good plan.

What I didn't count on was that Kolbe is going through that stage where he talks very loud and non-stop. It was quite funny, the adults trying to compete with Kolbe to be able to visit. At one point, he overheard my nephew saying that it was nice spending time with his Grandma. Kolbe cracked up laughing and said, "She's not your Grandma, silly. She's Daelyn's Grandma."

Kolbe didn't quite seem to get the connection between Daelyn and James. But we all had a good laugh over it. Later, while the adults were trying to finish their lunch, Kolbe got up from the table and disappeared. When I realized he was gone, I found him standing at a table behind us, entertaining an elderly couple. They seemed to really appreciate the company and were smiling and laughing. When I called him back to the table, he sat down next to me and commented, "That's MY Grandma and Grandpa."

My mother looked surprised and said, "Oh, my goodness. Are those really his grandparents?" I don't believe so since both sets of his grandparents live in Michigan. But it was sweet that Kolbe was enjoying himself and adding a little sunshine to some other people's lives.

All the same, we were ready for lunch to end and to get the boys home to a quieter environment. I put a Veggie Tales movie on for Kolbe and took Daelyn to get him down for his nap. When I returned to the den, Kolbe's eyes were droopy and he looked like he was about 5 minutes away from sleep. In an effort to stimulate himself and ward off sleep, he asked me to put on a different movie. "I don't like Veggie Tales. Will you put on something different for me?" Of course he doesn't like Veggie Tales. It was lulling him to sleep. Not to mention the fact that the movie was almost over. So, I let him look through the cabinet and pull out something else. He chose, of all things, Gumby.

If any of you have ever seen a Gumby movie, you'll understand what I'm talking about. For those of you who haven't, Gumby movies are very disjointed and are quite distracting with all the clay creatures and people. But my kids absolutely LOVE Gumby. Deanna thinks he's cool (the way he sits and walks! - he's so cool, Mom.) He's a hunk of clay in an animated movie. I sure don't get this "cool" thing.

I put the movie on for Kolbe who sat back down on the loveseat to watch. Ten minutes into the movie, he commented, "This sure is a strange Veggie Tales movie." Later, he continued with, "Aunt Patti, I don't understand this Veggie Tales movie" and "Anytime now, they're going to play the Veggie Tales music." I kept telling him the movie wasn't Veggie Tales, but he couldn't quite get it.

Kelly arrived before the movie ended. Kolbe didn't want to go - he kept complaining that the movie wasn't over. This movie must last an hour. It goes on forever. The first 20 times the children watched it, I didn't see the whole thing. I just couldn't sit for that long watching an animated children's movie. I have too much to do. Not to mention the fact that Gumby is a little strange.

Yesterday, I was out shopping and, as I returned home, Kelly was in the driveway getting Kolbe out of the van. She said that she had called and talked to Don who had agreed to keep Kolbe so she could take another child to the doctor's. As Kolbe walked in the house, he said, "Aunt Patti, can I watch that funny Veggie Tales movie again? I really like it."

Gumby. Slaying children everywhere. Who would've thunk?