OBSESSION

I’m not quite sure where they got it, but all three of my kids have very (EXTREMELY) obsessive personalities. Not like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, where they count things over and over or wash their hands a hundred times a day (shoot, I’d be happy if they’d spontaneously remember to wash their hands EVER!) They’re just obsessive, as evidenced by last week’s fish episode. What started out as a few simple goldfish in small glass bowls **would** have become a fish metropolis, had I let it. The wind had gone out of their sails a tad since the second fish bit the dust, but I’m worried a comeback is in order, after I managed to save the third fish this morning, who was limping and gasping feebly ‘round his bowl when we woke up. Fresh water, clean rocks, and a new water tablet, and he’s swimming merrily now. Great (roll-y eyes). I’m like a freakin’ fish whisperer. And my kids’ fascination is reneweth.

I’ve *known* my kids were this way for quite some time. Some of their recent obsessions include (but are not limited to): the guitars and guitar lessons Kellen and Kendrie both swear they want on a daily basis, never mind the fact neither of them have a musical bone in their bodies. The half-pipe Kellen is adamant Blaine either buys for him, or builds himself, here in our driveway. Kellen has decided he wants to compete in the X-Games when he’s older. I don’t know where he got this idea, since he has no idea what the X-Games even are, but he’s decided. BTW, for those of you wondering, professional quality half-pipes, available online, cost roughly $6000. Cheap-o versions are around $800. Kellen, for some reason, doesn’t understand why we’re not buying two and giving him his own skate-park here at the house. He swears he will wear a helmet. Um, yeah. Because *that’s* the reason we’re not rushing out to buy one.

The kids have all gone through these phases …. Barbies, karate classes, ceramic lessons, toy cars, etc, etc. It’s not that they’re greedy and demanding, it’s more that they get something in their head and just can’t let it go. Obsessive? Fanatical? You be the judge.

Take dirt bikes, for instance. Kellen’s cousins have dirt bikes, and he asked for one also. We said no, and he accepted it pretty gracefully, but he won’t quit talking about them and asking us questions: How fast can a dirt bike go? Which is faster, a dirt bike or a car? How old do you have to be to ride a dirt bike? Could I drive a dirt bike to school? Are there dirt bike X-games? How old do I have to be before I can buy my own dirt bike? Ad nauseum.

Another example involving their cousins happened when we went home earlier this summer, and my kids hung out with Landon and Dalton, ages 8 and 10, who are into cars. My kids? NOT into cars. Not until they heard Dalton and Landon discussing Mustangs and Trans-Ams and Corvettes. But mainly Mustangs. They’re all up in the Mustangs now.

So as we drive around town, my kids are obsessed with spotting cars that they recognize and shouting out the name. “Mustang!!” “PT Cruiser!!” “Hummer!!” like it’s some never-ending game of Punch Buggy. But Mustangs, oh boy, Mustangs are the manna of life, for Kellen, and he squeals with joy whenever he spots one. Then, since they don’t recognize the majority of cars on the road, they’ll ask me a thousand times a day, “Mom, what kind of car is that?” and after a while, I’m so worn down from trying to figure it out, I’ll just mumble, “Chevy Impala” and hope that’s right.

I might be in for a respite from the Mustangs and the fish, however, after yesterdays Cure Childhood Cancer’s Annual Picnic in Snellville, Georgia. I drove the kids up for a fun-filled afternoon, complete with lunch from Folk’s County Kitchen, carnival games, moonwalks, remote-control boats, clowns, arts and crafts, dunking booth, prizes, music, etc. We got to see lots of families that we’ve missed lately: Brandon’s family, Chandler’s family, Keegan’s family, Jacob’s family, just to name a few. So we all had a good time, getting to visit and play games ……… but one of the games? Something where you roll dice, and depending on what you roll, you win “X” number of baseball cards. Kellen, somehow, rolled the magic number and walked away with six or seven big packs of baseball cards, the examining and organization of which has transported him to a new nirvana. Does he know anything about professional baseball, the players and their statistics? No. Does he have a favorite professional baseball team? Or player? No. Has he ever before, in any way, shape, or form, indicated an interest in collecting baseball cards? No. But now he wants to spend every dime he has saved up on baseball cards.

I mean, it just makes me crazy. Where do they GET such behavior? It makes me wonder……..

Oh wait! I almost forgot to tell you!! Did ya’ll hear about the new contest they have going on at Sonic? For every large and extra large drink you buy, you get to unwrap a straw, and if it’s a special striped straw, you win a prize …. money, gift cards, trips, and a Grand prize of $168,894.00, which is the purported number of drink combinations Sonic offers, although really, every one of them is meaningless to me since I am still in love with my plain, ordinary, un-combinationed Diet Dr. Pepper. But that’s not the point. The point is, I am TOTALLY going to win this!! I stop at Sonic, normally, once a day, sometimes even twice. So if I double my efforts I could conceivably visit Sonic several hundred times between now and the end of the contest!!! Plus, PLUS! Get to enjoy all that syrupy goodness in the meantime! It’s a win-win situation!!

Now, what was I talking about? Oh, yeah, my kids and their obsessive behavior. I just wish I knew where they got it.

PS. Mrs. Jan and Mrs. SueEllen, thank you so much for the donations to Caringbridge in honor of Kendrie, in Dad's memory. I'm so thankful that this service exists, and appreciate you helping them!\