Get Me A Brain...

"Whose brain did you get me?"
"Abbey somebody."
"Abbey who?"
"Abbey Normal."

Ahhh... the human brain, the original computer without which we'd have nothing. As a society without the development of the the human brain, we'd still be walking about on all fours. Being limited to eating whatever we could reach that was 4' or lower. No computers from which to blog from... nothing.

As a parent, I'm always interested, amazed and frequently amused as to how the young brain develops. How do they (the kids) make their connections? How is it that each one of them can look at, and be part of, the same situations and come away with very different accounts of what they just saw or what just happened? I understand everyone's different and all that, I don't need anyone telling me it's because "we're all different"... I know that. Having said that, I will draw from my very own (unscientific) conclusion.

• Sometimes the brain works.
  
• Sometimes it doesn't.
• Sometimes we wonder how exactly is it working.
• Sometimes it is working overtime.

Yesterday would fall into the "how exactly is it working" category. I go to pick up the boys from school (like I do every other day) and we hop in the truck and head on home. Sometimes there's conversation, sometimes not so much. I don't push for it, if they want to talk, they talk. I ask the customary how was school today, how was your lunch... bla bla bla. I do turn the radio off once they get in and we get rolling giving them the chance to talk without the intrusiveness of the radio. Even if they don't want to talk to me, with the radio off, it allows me the chance to listen to them talk to each other. Yesterday's talking revolved around a book that someone had lent to Jake to take home for the night. I wasn't involved in the conversation, just Nick and Jake. It was a pokemon book, and for the record pokemon is not popular in our house... it's a parentally imposed ban. Anyway, Jake wanted to take it home so he could draw some of the characters.

The ride home is about 10 -15 minutes provided no bridge being up or no train. I usually drop them off and then head on out to pick up Emmah. So I stop in the alley and let them out and as Jake is getting out, he tells me that he lost his backpack and starts to cry. I'm assuming his crying is more to do with that he thinks he's in trouble, though my reaction was less than totally calm. I said what do you mean lost it? He said that he put it on the floor and when he went to pick it up, it was gone. I explained that the reason I sounded angry didn't stem from the fact the he "lost" his backpack. I assured him that I wasn't angry, but was upset that he waited until we got home to mention this in the first place and asked him why he didn't mention it while we were still at the school? I went on to explain that it would have been easier to go then than it will be now since I don't have the time to go back to his school and make it in time to get Emmah as well. Now I was going to have to get Emmah and then go back. It's not like I have to drive 100 miles to get from one school to the other, but they are on opposite sides of town and as one might imagine at that time of the day, there are a plethora of school busses to contend with.

In my defense (why didn't I notice it was missing?) the hood from his coat is the kind that can wrap across the front of his neck. The inside of the hood is a black fleece material. When he doesn't have the hood up, the two flaps lay across the tops of his shoulders looking very much like a strap from his backpack. I didn't even give it a second glance. I pick Emmah up and inform her that we need to go back to Jake's school since he lost/misplaced his backpack. We make it across town and into the school. Emmah checks the lost and found as I check his classroom and the other classrooms to make sure it didn't get misplaced in one of them. No avail to all this searching. So we headed on back home.

Once home, I inform Julie that it's missing. So now we begin the inquisition of when did you have it last and are you sure you had it here and bla bla bla. He said he last remembered having for reading today. Then what? Can't remember much after that. So a little time transpires after which time Julies asks me was it his orange backpack. I said I guess so, that's the one that he uses. She then sez "you mean like the one in the back hall here?" Turns out that he never took it to school in the first place. When confronted with that little tidbit of information... you know what his response was when we mention to him that he never took it in the first place?

"Oh yeah... I forgot"