I have recently come to the conclusion that my son, Cannon, is either a natural born leader or will be the best traffic cop ever. This has been so perfectly illustrated to me twice recently.
I few weeks ago, I had a doctors appointment at Ft Eustis. The kids and I went for the appointment because seriously they go EVERYWHERE with me. It is very rare to see me without the kids. And if you see the kids without me you better be asking some questions. But the kids and I were finishing up my appointment and trying to head to the car to leave. Zoey is actually being pretty calm. She is walking with me holding me hand. Be still my heart, those are the sweetest moments. Cannon, however, must have downed an energy drink on his way. (Not really but you can picture his energy level.) He was literally running circles around Zoey and I as we walked down the hall. He wasn’t disrupting anyone but me. He remained in arms length.
I have learned to fight my battles. We may look chaotic to everyone else but we were actually doing really well. He stayed with me but was getting all of his energy out. We have worked hard to figure out these little tricks that work for us. Ok all the people out there giving me look because “I can’t control my kids”, I see you. And I have one thing to say, in the most Southern voice I can “Bless Your Heart”. (for anyone that doesn’t know Southern I just sweetly told them to bite me.) My children are well mannered but loud. They stay with me but run circles around me when they need to get rid of energy. Yes they aren’t the picture perfect image of well disciplined children and quite honestly, that sounds brain numbingly boring. My kids being quirky makes life interesting for me, them, and anyone who takes the time to experience us. So look all you want to judgmental people. But be warned, I can let them run wild then you would see crazy. I mean now they just yell “excuse us” as they run by, they could come up and lick you (gross).
But this day we were doing our normal thing trying to leave base. We are walking down the hall when a group of about 10 soldiers walk the other direction, meeting us. Cannon decided that this was the perfect time to assert himself. Cannon runs up to the soldiers. Bare in mind they are in uniform and heading to an appointment obviously. They weren’t out for a leisurely stroll. They were however new guys, they looked like they just got out of basic training. Cannon runs up to the first one and holds up his hand and yells “stop”. Before I can grab him and apologize all of the soldiers stop and stand at attention. I was stunned for a few seconds watching this little three year old boy in overalls get a group of soldiers to stop mid step and stand at attention. I snap out of my stunned silence about the time I hear a guy at the back of the group whisper “Why did we stop?”. The guy in front said “He said STOP”. I apologize for Cannon, grab his hand and we all went about our way.
About a week ago I had to drop off some paperwork at the school district. It was only Cannon and I because Zoey was finishing school. We had to wait in the lobby because they needed to make some copies of our paperwork. No big deal. They had books and Cannon and I just read and talked about what he saw in the lobby. There was one lady in the lobby with us. She was very well dressed in professional wear and appeared very nervous. She was obviously there for a job interview. Cannon had waited long enough patiently and decided he needed to walk around the area. There was only 3 of us total and he wasn’t bothering anyone. So I let him walk circles around the coffee table. About this time the other lady was called back for her interview. It was also at this time that Cannon decided to assert himself again. He runs between the lady and her interview, holds up his hand, and yells “stop”. While her interviewer looked on, she immediately stopped. Cannon then looked at her and said “now twirl” and proceeded show her what she was supposed to do. The stunned woman looked at me and said “I don’t know what to do.” I said “You say ‘good job’ and go to your interview”. She sheepishly does just that and goes to her interview. The interviewer watched the whole exchange laughing. I mean you need to know how to deal with kids if you are working with schools.
So I have decided that Cannon will either be the world’s best traffic cop or is a natural born leader. Either way, be prepared for spontaneous “STOP” commands from him if you see us.