Nathan's vacation

Recently while Darren was having his tonsils removed, Mom watched Nathan and Justin for me. Because of Darren's age, he had to spend the night at the hospital in the department called Almost Home. That is for kids who stay less than 24 hours so technically they don't stay the night. Mom got the boys from early Monday morning until early Tuesday morning.

She called the night before the surgery (Sunday) and suggested that Nathan spend the night on Tuesday so that Darren has a chance to rest without Nathan picking on him. We picked Justin up Tuesday morning and went home and enjoyed the quiet. Nathan's two nights of vacation turned into four nights. We didn't pick him up until Friday after dinner. Even then he didn't want to leave, but I think that Mom and Dad (not to mention Stacey and Bill) were ready for him to go.

When he is out there, he works as hard as any five year old can work. When he sees a chore on the farm for the first time, he remembers exactly how it was done. If someone varies slightly from how he seen it done the first time, he lets you know that you aren't doing it right. If he was a little bigger, he could do all the chores himself. He always has to be in the middle of what is going on at the farm. He will ask Bill and Grandpa what they are doing, and whoever is doing a more exciting job, is who Nathan will spend the day with.

I know that he is a smart kid, but he can aggravate me to no end. You ask him what he did on the farm and he "forgets," yet he can remember how to feed the pigs or everything you need to do to wean pigs. I guess he is a typical guy and has a selective memory.

I think he had a slight regression when Justin was born as he claims he couldn't remember his name for the first week, ten days. Again, it goes back to remembering what he wants to remember.