It's a Boy....

Last night,as i rocked in my baby's rocking chair; i could hear through the open window all the neighbor children playing hide and go seek; counting out loud, running around the house, declarations of whom was found and still in need of being sought. I changed from chair placement to window and watched intently, these children, these friends, these comrades in arm and reminisced the make up of the present.

"It's a boy!" my neighbor shouts from her car window as she and her husband slow down the car on their way home from her doctor's appointment. "We are going to have a boy!" This was 7 years ago and the little baby who toddled in the wading pool on his front lawn is now, "IT" in the game of choice this evening.

Ding Dong goes the door bell and Clifford, the Big Red Dog is standing before me, too shy to say, "Trick or Treat" so his parents say it for him. He is all but 3 or years of age. I think back to the times of walking this little one up to his home - the three houses stood together in monumental form. Navigation and guidance were required at such a young age. The now 11 year old has been in our house all day playing Legos, Wii and Risk with his counterpart, Simon. The two run from front lawn, across the street and tag the mailbox..."SAFE!" I hear them shout in unison.

"Katie, Daniel has run off again....can you call me if you see him?" This little boy, with so much to give the world, unleashes himself frequently from his own ties that bind. He marches to his own beat. At 3 years of age, he and Simon walk arm and arm down to the bus stop to say good bye to their older brothers venturing into the world of Kindergarten. The relationship between friend and son has been volatile, but both boys have grown together and each one is better for knowing the other. I look out the window and comically, the barefoot 11 year old stands frozen behind a skinny tree branch.

A Christmas card hung on our wall with a woman, her husband, her 12 year old daughter and a message that a baby will soon be coming into the world. a couple years later, another card came with the family of 4; and another was soon to make an entrance. This family has led a quiet existence. The two babies, now 7 and 5 are showing themselves more and more as they grow. Two more have added themselves to the crop that grows on this child laden street.

The 2 year old twins, who long ago showed up on this street in diapers, now reign in control with skateboards, baseball mitts, bats, balls, scooters, and bikes. These boys seek no borders and we have had our share of challenges trying to deal and educate our own children in times of quandary. The 7 year olds fight over who is really *not* it and which one is going to quit the game if they don't get their way and which rules are meant to be broken. With this, I watch from my placement near the window, check my watch and wonder if the time is almost near; the game of Hide and Seek will eventually come to blows and one of the twins will march off into their house, screaming at the other and the game will officially be over.


The doorbell rings all day. Kids funnel in and out, and the beat of Highland Place is strong. Last night, 10 kids represented - all growing up in a solid existence, all learning, all influenced, and all changing at each other's side.

I set the baby down from my hold, he walks down the hall, babbling; this too, will one day, only be a memory.

Thanks for listening.