Alex for an afternoon

We've always called him AJ. And with the exception of about a two-day period when he complained he wanted a name with more letters (he suggested Dave), AJ has been fine with the nickname.

So it came as a bit of a surprise last fall when suddenly anyone who knew him through school started calling him Alex. It was even more of a surpise to learn that while it was the teacher who'd started it, she did it at AJ's request.

When the school year ended, so did all references to Alex. Until Sunday when we invited his best friend from his kindergarten class to come over and play.

I suspect it was a similar story for Evan T, who probably is known as just Evan everywhere other than in a kindergarten class that includes another boy named Evan. And so, Alex and Evan T happily bounced around, calling out each other's names as they played pickle in the middle.

When AJ learned that we got to keep the rented bouncy house for an extra day after Sydney's party, you could see his mind at work as he figured out who he wanted to invite over to play. It took a bit of work to find the slip of paper with Evan T's phone number, and a bit more work to decipher it since most of the number's were backward. But we did it, and Evan T was available, and what a fun afternoon it turned out to be.

 

When it got too hot to bounce anymore, the boys cooled off inside, briefly playing pirates. And then then cooled off even more by running through the sprinkler, daring each other to see who could get the closest, who could tolerate the biggest blast of cold water and other tests of bravery.

Wait! Is that a bug?

Okay, back to the sprinkler.

As fun as it was to watch and listen to them play, it also reminded me why I couldn't handle a job in elementary education. There's just a certain disconnect between what strikes their funny bone, versus mine. For instance, lifting their shirt and playing bongo drums on their stomach produced hysterical laughter. And making up songs that include the word "poop"? Well, that's even funnier.

I don't get six-year-old humor.

Which is exactly why it's good for them to play with friends their own age. And then, just like that, Alex switched back to being my sweet AJ, always seeking my approval. At bedtime he asked, "Did you have fun when my friend Evan T was here?"

"It was fun watching you have so much fun," I affirmed.

"Yup," he agreed. "It was a fun, fun day."