Why? Why? Why?

You know, I thought it was annoying when Elmo kept asking the question. Little did I know that his repetition would become endearing once my kid started repeating that three letter question. Mostly because when he does it, it's with a whine, and he's wondering why his mother or father is being the most unjust son of a bitch on the planet.

But why can't I have a pixie stick AND ice cream with gummi bears and gumballs? Really? I mean, truthfully, it probably doesn't make much sense. Here kid just have it. But for some reason, I drew the line and said no. He was already having freaking Marble Slab, did he need the crappy candy, too? I mean, really?

And I'm not saying the four ugly words I heard so often in my childhood -- "Because I said so." Instead, I'm saying, "Well, fine then. We're going home." It's pretty much the same thing. But for some reason I feel like more of a bitch actually telling him a plan rather than living it open ended.

Today, MacTroll picked up X-man and took him sledding on Colbert Park hill. Apparently, there were two sledding incidents. One with an older high school age kid who thought he broke his leg and then another with a mother and daughter who slid down the west side of the hill into a parked car. MacTroll said she ended up going in the ambulance. I hope they're both okay.

After sledding, he brought X-man home. X-man took 10 minutes to tell me all about the excitement. Then he threw a FIT because MacTroll was taking care of some household crap while I started to make dinner. "SOMEONE HAS TO PLAY WITH ME!!!!"

Wait, wasn't your father just on top of a hill with you for an hour? And aren't we going rollerskating with your friends immediately AFTER dinner.

X-man has a total case of the gimmes. He's also feeling really needy lately. Quigs invited him over to spend the night. So I brought up the idea tonight at dinner. At first he was really excited about getting to sleep in Bubba's room. And then he found out that I wouldn't be there and he backpedaled. I explained to him that it was okay that he wasn't ready to sleep over (although he's slept over alone at my dad's house plenty of times), and that we'd see Bubba and Pretty Girl on Friday so he could be sure to have playtime with them. That quieted him down a bit.

Until it was time to go rollerskating and I got my skates. He outgrew his Fisher-Price ones, and MacTroll and I both agreed that he needed to try out the experience without brakes helping him keep his balance. He cried all the way there about how he didn't want rental skates. And then he got there and saw his friend Jacks from school and that she didn't have skates and that his friend Ike didn't have skates and suddenly, he was okey dokey.

He was so tired from the rest of his day, he couldn't take his eyes off of what everyone else was doing and kept falling down, even with us holding his hands. So, he went off to play some games, in his skates, with MacTroll while I visited with some CARE friends that I hadn't seen in way too long. Then Lightning McColin arrived and X-man was happy -- until he saw him skate. Lightning McColin is a very good skater, so is Ike. They ran off in their skates to have some fun. X-man couldn't keep up. He threw himself to the ground in a fit of self pity. Then I told him that skating took practice like Tae Kwon Do. And very smartly he replied, "I don't have enough energy to try that hard tonight."

Bingo.

For the past two nights, MacTroll has had to go into X-man's bedroom and REtuck him into bed. Telling him to close his eyes and lay still, because our constantly moving maniac can't seem to remember how to put himself to sleep.

MacTroll looked at me tonight as I was making dinner and X-man was whining about being neglected in the living room. "Doesn't it feel like he's been four forever?"

Five will come soon enough... Me -- I'm just happy neither of them cracked their heads open on the sledding hill.