Hide and go seek

"Could you put my shoes on for me please?", says the 3 year old girl to my son, Jake, in the middle of a child development class in year 12.
After putting on the first one, Jake looks around and says "Where is your other shoe?"
"I don't know."
Of course not. Why would she know. That would be too easy.

"Where were you playing when you lost the other one?"
She leads him over to the playground, and they search for 5 minutes.
"Does anyone else know where a spare shoe is?" Jake asks of all the other children.
One boy pipes up: "I know! I know!"
"Where is it?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"I hid it!" he says, with a devious grin on his face, happy at being so clever.
Jake, in another display of his seemingly infinite patience, asks him calmly, "Why did you hide it?"
The boy, even happier, says something that an adult could never invent in a million years.
"I wanted to play Hide and Go Shoe!"

All the other children, upon hearing this, take off one of their shoes and shout, "Can we play too?!"
"How about we play that, not now!" says Jake, and diverts them to some other game, cleverly avoiding all the confused parents wondering why their children are coming home limping.
They eventually find the other piece of footwear hiding in a closet, and cover her bare metatarsals before she starts to develop scoliosis.

Dinner Dance

Jake looks absolutely smashing in his tuxedo, a white double-breasted jacket and a bubblegum pink vest, matching bow-tie, and hankie in his top pocket. He has been so psyched up for tonight's dinner dance at his 8th grade school.

I walk him in - everyone else is dressed up nice, but Jake has really kicked it up a notch compared to the others. All the guys compliment him on his clothes. But he gets even more compliments and wows and looks from the girls - they are obviously very impressed. The girls all look beautiful and way grown-up too, in their fancy party dresses and high heels and jewelry.

The school is set up to look like a cruise line, with portholes everywhere, and cabin numbers (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 - representing the upcoming high-school years), and signs pointing to the spa and pool and upper deck.

They all sit down and talk for a while, and then food is served. Included are strawberries, chocolate cake (that Jake eats way too much of) and lots of other things including a chocolate fountain!

Then they get to move into the gym, which has been set up as a disco, with loud music and flashing lights, and dance for the next two hours, having lots of fun.

Jake takes zillions of pictures and comes home so hyped up that it takes him over an hour to calm down before he can go to bed. He has enjoyed it immensely.

He looks so much older tonight, won't be long before he is off with a girlfriend going to parties in his own car.