Wish it was Sunday

Typically, I don't mind Mondays at all. I quite enjoy the rhythm of our weeks and by the end of the weekend I am ready for it all to begin fresh and new.

Today was a new day, but certainly not very fresh. It started off well enough but quickly went astray. Our usual routine was interrupted for Nathan's four year well check. The nurse, then the doctor had him do many tasks and tests designed to check developmental progress as well as hearing and eye function. Shocking as it was, his hearing is perfect. The eyes are just less than and will require a follow up appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist. I expect it will be routine.

He listened to and responded well to the requests of the doctor, which was a clear improvement from his three year well check where he was quite reserved; until, that is, we came to the matter of drawing the picture of a person. In fairness, the nurse probably erred with this particular patient in her efforts to motivate. When he showed no immediate interest in drawing a person, she suggested he draw a character from a movie, nada. She began to list movie characters that he might choose from, of which he has little to no exposure and knew nothing of what she spoke. She began to give movie reviews on, I presume, every animated film known to pediatric nurses. Still nothing. Finally, she told him to just "draw whatever you want". He looked at her wide-eyed as though she was slightly demented; certainly she was not bringing out his inner artist.

The morning was filled with confrontations, mostly with myself. First, Nathan made a liar of me when I proudly announced that he knew his letters for the eye exam. Next, he raised his right arm when she asked for his left and the whole drawing fiasco goes without saying. Then there was the issue of my credit card being denied for the lousy copay and the academy award winning scene when I dropped him at school. Finally en route to climb aboard the sinking ship that is my livelihood, there was a metal ladder being flung about the freeway like a beach ball at a summer concert. Thankfully, I and my vehicle, escaped unscathed.

Later in the evening I decided to bring out the writing materials to see about this drawing business for myself. With the threat of shots lifted from his concern and being in his comfort zone, surely he would comply. Uh, not so much. When all else fails, cheat, so I started him off with a circle and he was on his way. I'm pretty sure he is okay, he added several elements to his 'unfinished man'. I'm not certain how many are expected for so called 'normal' development at four years old, but do you suppose it's a problem that one of those features was a deep furrow between the brows?

As if my day weren't complete enough as it was, I went for more, just to be sure. I inquired about this and that on his person, and when we got to the two little lines in question, he couldn't quite name them, but got his point across just fine. "You know, those things", he said squinching up his own face while glaring at the space in question on mine. Oh yeah, those.