Late Night Calls

We spent the night with the kids at the school for the annual carnival and auction for the PTA fundraiser. We traded Jacob for Anthony. Good decision. Jacob was much happier playing with Becca at the Mazza's home and Anthony had a ball playing all the games and getting prizes. We got home about 8:30 and had the kids in bed by 8:50. At 9:15 the phone rang. The caller ID said it was Susan Mannion. Thought she might be calling to reschedule our playdate for Tuesday next week or something. I hear silence, then muffled talking, silence, then "I think I got the wrong number" in a child's voice. Someone is fumbling with the phone and I asked, "Is this Connor?" No response. "Connor?" "Connor?" The response comes, "Huh?" "Connor? Is this Connor?" "Yeah." "This is Ben's mom." "Oh. Well guess what?!?! I got Legos!" "You got Legos?" "Yeah!! And it has a this and a that and does blah blah blah...." I start to chuckle to myself. He goes on and on about how cool the Legos are. After a long bout of confusion about why he would be so darn excited about Legos that he'd call someone, finally I clue in and ask, "Did you win the Legos at the auction in a basket?" "YEAH!! And JP got another one and it does...and...and..." Then out of the blue he says, "Do you want to know how I got the phone?" "Yeah." "I have powers." "What kind of powers? Magical powers or superhero powers?" "Magic powers. And I have a compass. I just put my hands like this and then use my compass and it points like this and then it just flies right through the air into my hands!" "That is sooo cool that you have magical powers!" By this point I've got the phone on speaker so Brian can enjoy it with me. He calls out from the living room, "Do you have a secondary phone number for the Mannions?" "Nope." We talk for a while longer, me stifling my laughs repeatedly over his enthusiasm about all the exciting things he has to tell me and I begin to probe him that it might be time for bed. Then he remembers, "Oh yeah, can I talk to Ben?" "He's asleep. But you can call him tomorrow and talk to him." "Okay. I just wanted to call someone else but it didn't work and I got you and then, OH! Want to know how I did it? "Yeah. How did you know how to call me?" I wondered, did he recognize the word Zufelt from class and find it in the phone directory? "Okay. I just took the phone and I pushed this button and then the other one right there and it didn't work so I tried this one lots of times and then I thought it didn't work but then you talked and I thought you were someone else but you were actually Ben's mom." "Okay. I think it might be time to go to sleep now." "But do you know Robert?" "I don't think so." We got through many options of who Robert might be and how I might know him. We finally come to an understanding that he is their next door neighbor. I say I think I've met him, asking if he is JP's age. "Um. Just a minute. I'll check.... JP? How old is Robert? Oh. Okay. Wait. How old are you?" Returning to me again, "Sounds like Robert is 9." I can no longer contain the laughter at this point. Brian comments, "I wish we could record this! Ben could never carry on a conversation like this. Maddie could though." In the background I hear Mike holler up the stairs to the boys, "Connor it's time to go to sleep." I probe yet again, "It's time for bed, Connor." "But did you know...and...and...and" many more things and topics to tell me all about. "Okay Connor. This is the last exciting thing to tell me tonight. Then it's time to hang up the phone and go to sleep, okay?" "Okay. Good night." Muffled phone noise. I still hear background noise of him wiggling in his blankets in bed. Obviously he hasn't hung up yet. "Connor? Connor? CONNOR?" getting louder so he can hear me since he's obviously taken the phone away from his ear. "Connor? Do you know how to turn the phone off?" "Huh?" "Do you see a button that says O then F-F?" "Um. Well. My dad is in my room now." It took all I had to not bust up laughing when Mike took the phone. It was absolutely hilarious, though he sounded about as amused as I would have been had I found Ben or Maddie making random calls late at night to strangers. Still, Susan is coming over on Tuesday to learn how to set up her very own blog. Won't this make the perfect first post to their family blog? I absolutely adore Conner. That kid has a heart of gold.