Four-day lifestyle change shock

   

        As I watch, Owen is standing at the glass door to the backyard of his home, looking out. He’s watching his dog Gretta, but he’s taking everything in – fallen leaves, a black squirrel, an overturned sandbox lid.

       He is dragging a toy tape measure, which I roll up for him, so he can pull it out again. We play the simplest of games, and my 15-month-old grandson is enchanted and entertained. As am I.

       When I’m with him, I remove my wristwatch a dozen times each day and place it on his forearm. He admires it, takes pleasure in it, but it drops to the floor a moment later. Thank goodness my watch is as durable as my cell phone.

       I babysat with my wife Jan for my two grandsons for a few days this week. I was reminded of why I love my boys so much, even as I faced radical change in my lifestyle during this time.

I drove a high-tech large SUV with a backup camera, a blind spot warning system, navigation. The fuel tank filler door was on the wrong side. It seated seven passengers.

I moved among the swells along Woodward Avenue in Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills, pumping gas, buying coffee, groceries, dropping my oldest grandson Noah at preschool.

Some of the men wore suits and ties, en route to their job; many of the women on their way to work looked like Connie Britton. Speaking of Britton, I got a chance to re-connect with the first few episodes of “Friday Night Lights,” to this day one of my favorite TV shows.

The homes were grand, some majestic – several thousand square feet. They were nestled gently into wooded areas.

The cars they drove were predominantly European or high-end Japanese. I saw Porsche, Mercedes and Fiat dealerships lined up on Woodward.

On our way home from school on our last day with the boys, Jan worked with Noah on store signs with the letter “N” in them. As I drove south on Wo0odward, it was amusing to hear Noah shout as he recognized the first letter of his first name in large signs on storefronts. Jan is a teacher through and through.

But for as much as he enjoys games of learning, he is head-over–heels for animated superheroes. We bought him a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles outfit complete with mask, bandanna, turtle shell and sword.

Jan warned me not to take the sword to preschool, familiar with the schools’ widespread rules regarding even toy weapons. But as we arrived at the school parking lot, sans Amma, Noah begged to bring it to school and I thought, there’s no harm in asking, right?

To my surprise, his teachers said yes, and he was allowed to bring it into school. He brought it the next day as well, but one of the teachers said that they had had a request to not bring the sword to school anymore. We stopped, although he continued to bring the rest of the outfit.

The increase in responsibility with young children for several consecutive days was a bit enervating. With no dependents at home any longer, we’re not used to it. Jan said she was on full alert every moment she was there.

I’m a punctual person, but I’ve become accustomed to arriving at work between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. If I’m running a little behind, it’s OK except for meetings and assignments with a short fuse.

But with Noah at preschool, he had to be dropped and picked up at a certain time. And I was dependent on Noah and Jan to get him ready – backpack, warm clothing, cap, TMNT garb, and water bottle. Technically, I wasn’t late, but I like to be a few minutes early in arriving.

It’s good to be home – I know where things are – and it’s easier to relax. But I miss the smiles, the laughter, the goofiness we share with them. In another day or so, I’ll be missing them again.

Under the gun

On Monday, I covered the Van Buren Township Work Study meeting. The agenda was packed with interesting stuff, and it ran for almost three hours. The exchanges among township officials and over 20 people in the audience were civil and constructive. It was, as they say, a good meeting, despite its length.

But I noticed a recurring theme, one to which we're all subject, including our elected representatives: dealing with important issues when you're running out of time.

Included were the following:

• A contract with Romulus Animal Shelter - at a $200 savings per month, this was a good deal, and it was said that we'd better act quickly, lest another community replace us as their customer. But, at other points during the meeting, I heard that the shelter would easily be able to expand.
• A couple of outdoor projects, including completing a bike path in Van Buren Park, and an expansion of Bethany Bible Church; gotta launch these this year, it was said, before the weather turns.
• Avoid losing $49,000 of a federal government grant that expires at the end of the year. Purpose is to upgrade Beck Road ballfields, but officials decided to wait until after a lease agreement between the township and EQ, which owns the ballfields, was agreed.
• Two incomplete subdivisions, including Country Walk Phases Three and Four at Martinsville and savage Roads, and the Victoria Park subdivision at Ecorse and Morton Taylor Roads. Representatives of SR Jacobson had proposed acquiring the land to build out the subs, but township officials weren't satisfied with all the terms of the deal. They decided to do further research, negotiate further with the potential buyer, and to return to subsequent board meetings this year to reach a decision.