On to academic domination, and Fred Meyer Playland

Guess who starts Headstart Preschool next Tuesday! Give you a hint.... Baron!!!! We are so proud of him and also deeply, deeply saddened by the inevitable realization that our baby is gone and our little boy is here. It's so exciting though!!! I can't wait to hear all about everything he does and following his progress and being there to help him whenever he needs. Lovin our little Monster!!! So, we've never dropped Baron off at any grocery or retail store "Playland" to be watched by some unhappy old lady desperately waiting for her next smoke break. Mainly because I've always figured that he'd be the kid that would go so crazy and be so far beyond any babysitters experience that we'd get called back to pick him up after five minutes. But, for about a month now he's really been wanting to go into the Fred Meyer Playland. We usually go to the one on Lombard and Interstate but we frequent many grocery stores, mostly to entertain the beast for free and disrupt the general order. Last week we finally relented and acquiesced to his repeated demands and signed all the paperwork and got him admitted into Playland. As soon as the attendant opened the door he ran in and never looked back. We no longer existed. Poof! Gone. So, we slowly, dejectedly slunk away towards the produce section, questioning our place in the universe more than ever. It was so bizarre shopping without him. We both kept stopping every couple of minutes and looking around frantically for a child that wasn't there. I kept waiting for the inevitable page to rescue the Playland attendant before the end of the world happened on her shift at the hands of my cute little angel. Nothing. We had an hour limit and after about forty minutes we headed back, paid for our groceries and then went to retrieve our devil spawn. I looked in and Baron was just playing away, his usuall whirl of activity, while three other kids his age were GLUED to the t.v. It was so amazing. The Attendent gushed about him. She told us that he was the only kid who offered to help pick up toys and he played the whole time and interacted great with the other kids and, as usuall, found a girl to shadow and play with and just on and on and on.... She said he was more than welcome to come back. I asked her several times if we were, in fact, talking about the same child. We were so proud of him. He never ceases to amaze and astound me.