Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Warren and I took the boys to get (way past due) haircuts today at SportClips. I've taken them several times, so they know the ropes. However, I usually have to keep them on a tight leash because they get a little lollipop crazy. Today--and maybe it was because there was no wait--they both sat perfectly still in their chairs while getting their hair cut. Even the clippers didn't phase them. As I stared at a little boy--not one of mine--bawling uncontrollably over his haircut and the imaginary wounds his hairdresser was inflicting on him, I wondered if I wasn't with the wrong kids.

Next we strolled through the Pottery Barn outlet. Both monkeys stayed close-by, barely fingered anything, and hardly uttered a complaint.

Warren wanted to go to Target to get some dish washing liquid, but I refused. Even with the monkeys on their best behavior, I didn't want to go into Target for .99 dish soap and come out with $100 of who knows what. When I explained to the kids that there would be no Target trip, they quietly accepted it.

Huh?

The next stop was Kid Station--a drop in child care center near East Memphis Huey's on Poplar. A mom at the boys' school had told me about it in December and I wanted to check it out. Knowing how shy and slow to warm up the monkeys can be, I didn't plan to actually go anywhere monkey-free. I just wanted to have a look-see to find out if Kid Station might be a place that might be conducive to me seeing an adult movie from time-to-time at the nearby Paradiso. (Oh why didn't they open Kid Station next to Studio on the Square?)

Kid Station wasn't very crowded, had lots of friendly "teachers," and was full of cool stuff--an indoor play area, a computer with games, super cool toys, a big screen tv, and, yes, a Wii. After a thorough tour and a brief listing of the available Wii games, the monkeys were like, "Bye! See ya later, Mom!"

So we left them there and went to Target for an hour and spent $19.49. A world record.

When we returned to Kid Station, they were both happily sacked out on the giant bean bags in front of the giant TV playing Mario's Galaxy while the teachers oohed and aahed over them.

Only with the promise of food were we able to eventually lure them out. (Our total Kid Station tab was $20, $10 of which was a one time annual fee!)

Our last stop was the East Memphis Pizza Cafe. The monkeys sat quietly, entertained us with stories of Mario's adventures, and then quickly and neatly gobbled down their pizza. I never even had to use a threat, clean a spill, or raise my voice.

Is there a full moon or something?