The Zane-Meister

Have you every been a part of, or seen video of a hoard of people bursting through the doors of a store on Black Friday?  I want you to get an image of that into you mind ... got it?  Good.  This is how Zane approaches each day.  Julie calls him the child of "More" ... more fun, more tears, more smiles, more screams ... more life, more love ... more to love.

Zane means 'God is gracious'.  We also found that it is an English derivative of 'John', which was Julie's fathers name.  But I am going to provide a different definition, 'ludicrously or whimsically comical; clownish'.  This is the definition of the word 'zany', which happens to be a fitting nickname we use for Zane. 

I recently wrote a blog entry called 'Because I said so'.  (http://imasahd.blogspot.com/2010/02/because-i-said-so.html)  The post chronicled some of the things that I have said to the children that I could have never imagined having to say to anyone ... ever.  Zane had his own category.

As I sit here, I am struggling to put into words the richness of Zanes' character (and Zane as a character).  He is extreme (like before, the child of more).  He loves life.  He wants to be just like his older brother.  His 'big' sister (20 minutes) is his best friend.  Everything is "Mine".  Everything is "Now".  He loves to explore new situations.  He's all boy (even when he is playing princess with Zoe).

A couple of stories...

Tonight, Zane hit Zach in the eye.  Julie, who is quick to show grace and slow with a hand, told Zane to apologize to Zach.  Zane ignored her.  As you can imagine this did not sit well with Momma.  "Zane, tell Zach you are sorry or you will get a spanking". (I realize this might be a hot button topic, but we use spanking only in cases of direct disobedience and has been effective for us)  Zane proceeded to scamper into the other room, giggling.  He was given to the count of 3 to return.  He did not.  Julie went after him and I did not see the rest.  Later Julie called me over and whispered into my ear, barely able to contain her laugh, that she found Zane in the corner of the room, laughing hysterically (the kind of laugh that you can not catch your breath), covering his butt with his hands.

We were taking Julie to work today.  Getting the children into the car can be a bit of an issue.  So, I am not above a little bribery when time is of the essence.  This morning, at 9am, the bribe was lolly-pops (don't judge me).  Well, evidentally the bribe was not enough for them this morning and both Zoe and Zane missed out on their prize.  They were not very happy with my decision and they let their displeasure be known (in Zoe's case, for the entire car ride).  Zane though, while in mid shriek, was distracted by two blue jays outside the window and that was it.  Just like that, done, from 100mph to 0.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Discovery Zone for the day.  Zoe, Zane and Zach spent a lot of time at one particular exhibit.  It displayed how machines work by creating a continous process of lifting small plastic rocks up, over, down, back up and then down again, with each step requiring a person to work the wheels, levers and pulleys.  They probably spent an hour at this one exhibit.  All of the sudden, Zane is gone.  "Julie do you see Zane?"  "No".  "Stay here and keep a look out".  I started to make a pass through the room as my anxiety grew with every step.  I made it around the entire room, without a glimpse of Zane.  It is amazing the thoughts that start to come to your head in a situation like that.  Julie still had not seen him.  I took another pass.  Then, I spotted him, whew, relief.  He was watching an exhibit that showed the affect wind had on a sail.  As I approached him, I got his attention and the scolding he was about to receive just disappeared from my tongues tip.  He turned with a look of boyhood fascination, saying, "Daddy, look", turning his focus back to the boats on wheels that were blowing around the table.  He wasn't scared.  He wasn't worried.  He was mesmerized by the boats ... I was mesmerized by him.

He is not easy.  He lives the definition of a strong-willed child.  But people like Zane change the world.  If everyone fit into the mold and fell into line, what would this world be.  I know with out my Zaney, my world would be a lot less interesting .. and a lot less fun.