You know you live in the middle of nowhere when....

Toby and I have a new hobby that we do together every day when I get home from work. We look out the window.

Our house has a HUGE bay window in the front. Actually, maybe it’s not a bay window. I don’t really know what a bay window is- - it’s just something I assume a lovely big window that’s next to your couch is called. Ours is probably more like a supporting wall type window. It’s huge. And PERFECT for curious little boys.

Tired of being climbed on incessantly as I sat by our big “bay window”, I suddenly happened upon a miraculous discovery that will change our lives forever : a stool. And not just any stool, but a perfectly sized stool for little boys who want to watch for cars out the window. When Toby stands on the stool he can look out the window AND bang on the ledge AND torture lady bugs while I can just sit quietly in my chair beside him and enjoy the view.

It was a perfect plan, really, until I realized that we live in the middle of nowhere. And nothing drives that fact home more than the act of sitting patiently with a 1 year old, day after day, waiting for a car to go by. Last week, we made the stool discovery on Monday and by Friday night we had yet to see a car go by. That kid has patience. More than I have. After about 15 minutes of hopeless car watching, I usually give up, but my poor little persistent-car-obsessed-son still stood there, eating the odd ladybug and bouncing up and down on the stool DETERMINED to see a car go by.

The sad part is, on Friday afternoon we finally saw something go by. It wasn’t a car, but our 13-year-old neighbor, walking slowly to his friend’s house, past our big “bay window”. After a week of unsuccessful car watching, Toby nearly fell off the stool when I excitedly jumped up and pointed out the ACTION on our STREET.

It was all a little too much for him. He was off the tool in a nanosecond, hiding behind my legs. Maybe it’s a good thing we started small with something harmless like a pedestrian - -he probably would have had a heart attack if a truck had gone by. I’ll keep you posted.