The Grassy Thinking Mat

Remember back when my son Keeve mowed the huge Q in the lawn?  Well, he’s back at it.  This time it is an 18″ square … the perfect size he tells me for sitting and thinking.  I saw the square about three minutes after the lawn mower shut off and I yelled out the door to get rid of the square.  But it seems the mower was already dragged through the side yard and out by the garage…. and the gate was shut and the cinder blocks were back in place so the dog won’t escape.  “Too late, Mom.”  Too late, my foot. 

The edging hasn’t been done in a long time, but WAS done while the grass was being mowed.  After the mower was put away, I took Keeve out there and showed him how the edges are all brown because the grass grew too long.  I also explained that the same thing would happen to the “thinking square”.  He just smiled.  It was 111* today, so I didn’t have the heart to send him out with scissors.  But tomorrow at 6:30 am it should only be in the high 80’s, the perfect temperature to cut grass with scissors.  Don’t ya think?

Keeve-Q

We’re not sure when it started.  We’re not sure why it started.  We’re not even sure what it means. For years our son has been signing his name Keeve-Q.  Q… why?  We don’t know.  His middle name starts with a K.  It has been his signature mark … even when his name doesn’t show up, the Q is there.  I asked him why he writes Q… he said, “Because it’s cool.”  I’m sincerely hoping he doesn’t think that Q is the first letter of the word Qool.

So why was I surprised when I saw the gigantic Q  in the lawn after Keeve mowed?  I don’t know.  Maybe the size of it?  Maybe the amount of time it would have taken him to move the mower in and out of the Q?  I don’t know.  There it was staring Q-ly at me … and even in the right direction to read it from the kitchen window.  He’s so thoughtful.

We’re trying to channel his creativity into music at present.  His piano lessons started last week and he has mastered Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”  (The one-hand, one-note-at-a-time version.)  He is truly a gifted child.  (Typed with tongue in cheeQ.)   Q.

(Note my bougainvillea that was flung from the wall during the horrific wind storm a week back.  There is a yellow-flowered bush under there.. well, there was last week.  I need to go tie those back up but they are SOOOO pokey. Sounds like a good chore for someone named Q.)

This is what I love about motherhood.  You never know when you’ll find Q surprises waiting for you to see the spunkability hidden inside your kids.