We lit the first candle at Reid’s bar mitzvah. Max say, “The first candle is the specialist. We are the specialist.”
Max wants a Bar Mitzvah now because he had so much fun.
Author grimholtz
Max: Why didn’t your brother go to the bar mitzvah?
Me: I don’t know. Should he have gone?
Max: Yeah, he’s Channukah [Jewish].
Max: I want a Bar Miztvah.
He says he has four years.
He asks what Reid will do next year on his Bar Mitzvah date and the year after that. Will he have a party every year? He doesn’t understand it’s a one-time holiday, just once in your life. It takes a lot to explain this, and I am still not sure he gets it. Every holiday he knows recurs each year.
Why wasn’t the rabbi there? (at the Bar Mitzvah reception)
Why are there so many temples here (in Cherry Hill)?
Max gets a skull and crossbones pained t-shirt while all the other children gets things like peace signs.
Why do those kids have big yamulkes? (the Rabbi’s kids)
Am I Jewish/ (I told him he’s half-Jewish).
Will we see where Reid and Morgan live? (We did not go to their house)
We came all this way for his Shabbat (he means Bar Mitzvah).
When will we see Reid and Morgan again?
A few days ago, I had the most wonderful weekend with Max. I’ve been putting off writing about it because I don’t know how to capture the magic. There were so many fun and interesting moments:
- We parked for the DinkDenver convention at 12th & Sherman. Walking to the civic center, we passed a homeless man’s camp (the man was not around). He had left some packs and various junk. Nearby was a glass crack pipe. Max asked about all these things and why the man left his stuff; wasn’t someone going to steal it?
- On the way back, we found an empty 9mm casing in the parking lot and called the police,
Update Dec 24, 2019
Well, I never finished this post about our first trip to DinkDenver. Karolina and Elliot came the next year. But this was the convention where we first met Crystal Sully, who became an enormous influence on Max in the next 2 years.
“Is there a key that opens every door in America?”
“No, I’ve never heard of that. Why?”
“Was there ever one?”
“I don’t think so. Did you hear about that on TV?”
“I’m Gonna Destruction Him”, classic words by Max in late 2016 or early 2017 (2nd grade)
Karolina: “Max, are you Jewish?
Max: “No.”
“OK, what are you?”
“I’m half Jewish.”
“And what’s the other half?”
“Christmas.”
On Sunday, we watched (again) the Ren and Stimpy episode Ren’s Toothache. Then yesterday, we went to the orthodontist — Max’s first time besides the initial consultation. After he got spacers installed:
Max: “Is there really a tooth beaver in my mouth?”
Aki: “Eating your nerve endings?”
Max: “Yeah”
Aki: No, tooth beavers aren’t real. It’s just from Ren & Stimpy.”
I love Pete the Cat and the picture Max made of him in 1st grade.
oct 21, 2016 text message
need to write about leonhard visit, halloween, meow wolf / santa fe
While driving to VPAA practice for Bob Fosse Tribute:
Max: “When I grow up, I’m going to live in Maine.”
Me: “Because they have crabs?”
Max: “Yes and I want to live near the ocean and I like boats.”
Me: “But you’ll live so far away from us.”
He doesn’t say anything.
Me: “Please don’t move away without us.”
Max: Smiling an shrugging, “Sorry”, as if he’s going to do it anyway.
Now I know how my mother felt.
Max: “Wait, how old will you be when I’m grown up.”
Me: “Like… when you’re 20?”
Max: “Out of college. When I’m out of college.”
Me: “Ok, so about 23. You’re almost 9, so that’s in just about 14 years. I’ll be 60 or 61. Gaga’s age.”
Max: Surprised, “REALLY?!” Then he says, “Gaga says he’s 59 and he doesn’t like being old.”
Max: “When I grow up I want to be a scientist.”
Me: “Why?’
Max: “Because when there’s a nuclear ‘plosion, the scientists survive.”
Me: “Because they get to live underground?”
Max: “Yes”
Max: “When I’m grown up scientists will make flying cars. And we won’t die from old age.” He said this before and told me we’ll have a “jection” [injection] to prevent old age.
“You can still die by falling off a cliff but not from old age.”
Me: “What kind of scientist do you want to be? Do you want to work on flying cars or injection to prevent dying.”
He doesn’t really understand me, or says I don’t understand him because there will still be dying, just not from old age. I drop it before he gets frustrated.
This past Sunday, I was fixing the DVD/CD drive in Max’s computer. He’d just come back from a week with GaGa and Marieka in Basalt. He wanted to play Lego Batman but the CD player hadn’t been working.
I was able to interest him while fixing it. He watched and even helped me.
I started complaining about his computer’s case. How I’ve built, fixed, broken, and worked on thousands of computers in my life, and this case has got to be one of the worst. There’s no room to get to the components, which is not unusual, but there’s no easy way to move components and wire harnesses out of the way. Nothing about the positioning or latches or screws makes sense. You even have to completely remove the power supply to get to the DVD/CD drive and front USB ports. And there are flathead screws securing the power supply — really???
Anyway, I’m complaining and Max retorts:
Max: “Who makes the computer?”
Aki: “Well, a lot of different companies. Like this piece is made by Intel, this is made by so-and-so…and I put it all together.”
Max: “No, I’m meaning, who makes this part [pointing] … the case?”
Aki: “Oh, that’s made by a company called HP.”
I flip a nearby identical case around — his original computer onto which I spilled tea a few weeks ago and killed the motherboard –and I show him the HP letters.
“See? H.P.”
Max: “You should call them. Tell them to fix their case. Tell them how bad it is?”
I chuckle and say, “Yeah, I should do that.”
I never would think to do such a thing. I am too cynical, apathetic, jaded from dealing with large companies as one of their ten million consumers.
Max has grown self-conscious. I used to love watching him play alone. Ever since he was a little baby in the bathtub, he made the craziest sounds and had more fun than I ever did playing alone as a child. It was a joy to watch and to listen. I even have some audio recordings of him playing (I think from a Maine vacation). Can’t understand a word of it, but his sheer pleasure shines through. He stages epic battles and stories with his little hands and a mixture of toys and monsters from ages 3 to 8. Very often, when not in the tub, the battles are with play swords, guns, and polo clubs.
Max Playing as a Toddler (not 2017 but earlier)
He still plays like this, although not while in the bathtub anymore. Now its only in his room with the door closed. If I enter the room, he stops and asks me to leave. I leave and he continues. If I knock first, he answers the door but doesn’t play anymore (sometimes asking me to leave). If I enter and go into his bathroom, he’ll close the bathroom and continue.
So, he’s recently become self-conscious. But I wonder why…
Max, Lucas, and Conrad with me, Katie, and Susanne Graf (Conrad’s mother). I guess it is unusual for all children in a group to have all parents with them. We had a great time! This was my first Ski Friday, even though it’s Max’s 2nd season at VMS.
While I am in bed with Max, Max is making a fort from the blankets and crawling under my raised knees, coaxing New Cat (Gretie?) into the fort.
Max: “We sleep together so much, we’re like roommates.”