Right now I’m sitting in a corner of my local Barnes & Noble, trying (unsuccessfully) to figure out how to connect to their trusted wireless network, watching Alex play with a Thomas the Train set and counting down the minutes until my computer’s battery dies because strangely enough, the Barnes & Noble children’s section doesn’t come equipped with a large array of electrical outlets so that mamas can “write” during storytime.

Have you ever heard of such craziness?

I had planned to take a couple of hours before Alex got out of school today and hunker down at Panera so that I could try to catch up on email and “write” a little bit, but I won’t be able to tell you about that just yet, because Alex wants me to read him a book now, so if you don’t mind please excuse me for a moment.

(Thirty minutes later)

Back again. Reading one book turned into reading three, one of which was a Backyardigans book that was clearly written by five year-olds who been supplied with excessive amounts of Coke and chocolate until they cranked out the most nonsensical plot imaginable, not that I have room to criticize, of course, because I believe my limitations with fiction are well-documented.

Also: it can get a little interesting when watching the boy in group play-type situations, because as I have mentioned before he is essentially a four year-old camp counselor, a self-appointed Funtime Organizer. He can’t begin to enjoy whatever task is at hand (in this case, playing with trains) until he has found out the names of all the other children AND parents, facilitated all the necessary introductions, and then made sure that the toys have been evenly distributed.

Needless to say, he’s not quite to the point where he understands that perhaps the reason why the mothers have brought their children to B&N in the first place is because THEY WANT SOME QUIET, ALREADY and would prefer not to have Mama/Child Meet & Greet followed by a round of shuffleboard over on the Lido Deck.

Or at the train table, as it were.

(Four or seven hours later. I’ve lost all track of time. But we’re home again. And the child is asleep.)

So, um, somewhere way up toward the top of this post I mentioned that I thought I would spend a couple of hours at Panera today, but I ended up changing my plans because my friend NK called and asked me to lunch, and of course I said yes because eating Mexican food with a sweet friend and our young’uns trumps checking email and fighting through writer’s (QUOTATION MARKS!) block every single time.

At lunch we had a great time talking about everything and nothing, and we especially loved listening to Alex and AC talk about their day at school. Being able to see each other every day has really added a sweet new dimension to their friendship, and they talk in a shorthand that NK and I don’t always follow but that cracks us up just the same.

Anyway, as we were getting ready to leave the restaurant Alex and AC were giggling and chasing each other, and at some point Alex caught AC, wrapped his arms around her, hugged her tight and kissed her smack dab on the lips.

I gasped audibly.

NK and I looked at each other, both of us completely wide-eyed, and I proceeded to ask the most obvious question of my life: “Alex! Did you just KISS AC?”

“I DID, MAMA,” he replied, about four hundred different kinds of pleased with himself.

And just when I was about to tell him that he might be a little young to be kissing girls, AC leaned over and kissed him right back.

Then they cackled with laughter and started chasing each other again.

Oh, I do love those crazy kids.

And while NK and I couldn’t help but grin at all their silliness, I’m pretty positive that we both left that restaurant with at least one more wrinkle than we had when we arrived.

I’m sure you understand.