Tap into your Inner Evanator!

I often try to imagine what this strange new world looks like to Evan.  Hardly a day passes when he doesn’t encounter something new.   A few nights ago, I was tired and didn’t want to cook.  I asked the boys if they wanted pizza.  Naturally, that met with approval.  Evan went to get his sweatshirt, ready to go jump in the car.  I told him to wait. I went online and ordered delivery.  Evan was rather upset with me for offering pizza and then sitting around doing nothing about it!  I could see that he was growing frustrated, so I called him to my computer and showed him the pizza website.  Then I signed to him that they would drive the pizza to our house.  Evan cocked his head sideways and raised one eyebrow. I didn’t need any sign language to figure out that he thought I was nuts.

Thirty minutes later, the pizza guy showed up.  Evan was thrilled. I’m sure he thinks I’m a sorceress.

This weekend was the second annual Rock and Roll Marathon in Savannah. We are directly on the race route which means our road closes down. By 8:15 in the morning thousands of runners are going right past our front door!  Last year Ben and I had a blast cheering for the runners and looking at some of the costumes people were running in.  

I was curious to see what reaction Evan would have when he saw hundreds of people jogging the wrong way down our one-way street.   I called Evan over and signed for him to look out the glass in the front door.  Our neighbors already had their lawn chairs set up on the curb.  Evan got very excited and wanted to go outside, too.  The boys put their sneakers on, still in their long jammies.  (Ben was wearing dinosaur pj’s and Evan had the Incredible Hulk.)

I opened the front door and we stepped out.  My neighbors called out, “We were wondering when you were coming out!”  I turned to answer them and heard Evan make a battle cry...  I turned back just in time to see my boy take off running!  I reached for him and missed. He was a blur...a skinny body in green and a head full of black hair.  Evan lept from the sidewalk and jumped into the middle of the pack!  I called back to Ben, “Stay there!  Mommy will be right back!” and took off running. 

So there I was -thankfully in my jeans and not my jammies - running at full speed after the Evanator. He passed many runners in his Incredible Hulk pajamas.   I saw runners dodging to miss him.  I made grabs for him as I came close and came up with handfuls of air.   Evan was laughing his butt off the whole time.  I am not exaggerating when I tell you it took more than a city block for me to catch him.  I don’t know how we didn’t end up on the evening news.

Evan and I walked back to the house.  Ben was waiting with the neighbors on the sidelines, always the dutiful son.  Evan was not happy when I explained to him that you had to have a race number to run.  

As we stood with our neighbors watching the runners, Evan scolded me for bringing him back. It occurred to me: Evan has no intention of ever being on the sidelines.  A few weeks ago he dove into the middle of an adult basketball game, and now the marathon.  There are no boundaries in Evan’s mind. 

People often remark that Evan is lucky to join our family.  That luck flows both ways.  I am the eternal pragmatist and Ben never takes a step without measuring the possible risks.  When I told Ben it was time to lose the training wheels on his bike, he complained, “No, then I will fall down!”  And now we have Evan... A 6 year old who fears nothing.  Never doubts himself.  Races headlong into the fray.  Life is for doing – not watching.  Wouldn’t we all benefit from uncorking our inner-Evanator?  What could we accomplish if we didn’t stop to worry about success or failure, whether we belonged, or what we were dressed like?  I dare you …..I dare me!