It’s late.

I should be doing report cards.
I should be cleaning the kitchen.
I should be folding the laundry that has been laying in the corner of the hallway for longer than I care to admit. It might even be dirty by now.
I should be switching the load of laundry before the stuff in the washer starts to stink and I have to run it on a rinse cycle with more fabric softener. Again.
I should be in bed.

None of the above are happening, because I have this story that keeps making me smile, and I need to get it out. Some of you may have seen part of it already. I originally included it in my 10-list that I posted yesterday. But after hitting “publish,” I decided to take it out and make it it’s own post. It’s worthy of standing alone.

In yesterday’s post, you met one of Jacob’s heroes: Pastor Phil. The other is the beautiful Julianne Seely. You may remember her from this post, where I used Jacob’s adoration of her to try to convince him to eat his dinner. Whatever works, right? Only it didn’t.

Yesterday, Jacob came with me to drop Annalise off at her ballet class. Once we got there and saw Julianne’s car in the parking lot, I realized why he had wanted to go with me so badly: We pass Julianne’s dance class in the hall on the way to Annalise’s. Sometimes, we get to see her and say hello. This time, however, the door was shut. I kept walking towards Leesie’s class when I realized Jacob wasn’t with me. I turned around and saw this:

Yes, that is my child laying on the ground.
Yes, he is looking under the closed door.
Yes, that is the door to Julianne’s dance class.
Yes, he did cry when we left because, “I didn’t get to see Julianne! I dist got to see her FEET!!”

I tried to console him by reminding him that we would likely see Julianne when we came back at the end of class. There was no consoling. Only panic. “But what if she’s gone already? What if we miss her?” I switched my tactics to distraction, which seemed to do the trick. (Wondering how much longer I have with that tactic. It can be such a life-saver.)

After some errands, it was time to head back. Jacob spotted Julianne’s red VW bug as we pulled in. He started to giggle, clap, and even squeal with delight. “Mommy, LOOK! You were right! She IS here! We get to see her!” He was beginning to remind me of a pre-teen girl giddy over a boy-band. We were nearing full-on freak-out excitement.

“Mommy! I’m dist so excited!… Auntie Nee’s Honey is here!!!”

Auntie Nee’s Honey? Julianne is Auntie Nee’s daughter, but I’ve never used that phrase. And to my knowledge, neither has anyone else. Bewildered, I looked back at him for clarification.

His wide smile got even wider. He had a twinkle in his eye and he let out a little giggle. Yes, this was very much like a pre-teen girl freak-out. “(giggle) I’m dist so excited. So excited dat I forgot her name for a sec. So dat’s why I dist called her Auntie Nee’s Honey.”

Oh, if only Auntie Nee’s Honey were 18 years younger. Poor Jacob.

The Priestmans love you, Julianne! (Only most of us won’t come looking under any doors for you.)