Izzy's Day Off

Izzy was all tuckered out last night, after the long day of centennial partying and playing with his friend M. He was so exhausted that he didn't wake up at his usual early hour and instead I had to check in on him at 8:20, whereupon he lazily opened one eye and remained in bed. When he finally crawled out of bed it was 8:30 and with school starting at 9:00 he needed to skedaddle. When he was dressed and ready to go downstairs, he complained of feeling tired and cold. He put on a sweatshirt and we went downstairs.

Over breakfast, he kept insisting he was cold. I checked his forehead and he didn't feel especially feverish but I took his temperature and it registered 98.6 (which I took to mean 99 since it is a forehead thermometer). As I knew some of his classmates had been sick, I decided it would be best to keep him home.

We made a whole list of chores and activities to accomplish and he accompanied me to the supermarket, unpacked the groceries, helped with the laundry and assisted in transplanting some daffodil bulbs from one area of our yard to another, all before lunchtime.

The gardening was by far the highlight and we both took immense pleasure in digging up large mounds of dirt. This is what I had wanted to do on Mother's Day so I was secretly pleased that Izzy was home. Odd that he seemed to have more energy than a barrel of monkeys..His ailment was apparently a mild one...

As we sat eating our lunch of Chopped Spinach Salad with Trout and Wild Rice, I shared the fact that I was glad he had stayed home. It was then he shared a revelation of his own.

"Mama. I tricked you," he said laughingly. "I wasn't cold. I just pretended I was so that I could stay home and garden with you."

I looked at him in disbelief, as his morning performance was award-winning and he generally loves going to school. I wasn't quite convinced it was all a hoax and I mentioned that he usually loves school. His response. "I do like school but I just needed a day off." Quite a day it was!

Although we had a grand old time, I do have to wonder...Do I have a Ferris Bueller in the making??