Trouble in the hood

Sam and I were enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon; Sam was working on the computer and I was keeping Amani entertained when Mich walked in sparkle eyed. He seemed to have a brilliant idea. He said “I’m going on an adventure!”

“Nice Mich, and where are you going?”

“I’m going to the market”

He sat down and drew a map. 

Sam and I were half attentive - Mich is always talking about things that he makes up in his head.

He went to his room and came back with a rack sack.

“Mummy what do you pack when you’re going on a long journey?”

“It depends on where you are going and for how long” I replied

“Not very long, just for one day”, he said

Sam and I run through a list – a rope, a torch, an umbrella, snacks…

“And where would you be going?”

“Out of the gate”

Sam said, “Uh, I don’t think that would be a good idea”

He went on working at the computer and I playing with Amani.

After about 45 minutes, I noticed the house was awfully quiet. I walked out to see what Mich was up to and noticed the gate was open. Since Stella was outside, I asked her if she had seen him, she thought he was in the house.

PANIC!!!

Then I prayed intensely.

I walked out the gate and there was no sign of him. What were the clues?  Market, long journey, adventure. Since we have a market at either end of our road, Sam searched at one end and Stella at the other.

She found him on his way back, talking happily about what he saw.

That gave me the fright of my life, especially with all the kidnappings going on.

Now that we have a slight idea what kind of 6 year old we are dealing with, Sam and I need to listen more attentively, take clues and act on them immediately.

Meanwhile Amani made 3 months a week ago; she is eating and sleeping well. She wears clothes for a 6 to 9 month old. Weighs a good 7.2 kilograms and her smiles are for world; they literally make her father melt like an ice cream in the Dallas summer heat.

She has been drool central. Yesterday I was about to feed her when she gave me a knock out smile, the sun shone on her gums and they sparkled, well at least I thought they did. She seemed a little unsettled when my sister asked if she was teething. I brushed it off – “No, she is only 3 months old”. But then I flashed back to what I thought were sparkling gums in the sun and quickly checked again. There, on her lower gums where two white teeth, shyly peeping out of her gums. Yup! She is teething alright; I hope she doesn’t get any ideas of using me as … I won’t even go there.