Just call me Kid

Joe was a big hit at the fair today. Many passer-byers stopped to notice him and Judah with their matching stick horses. Joe, completely decked out with 6 shooter, bandanna and hat, even caused a local politician to stop for a photo op.

The cowboy thing is getting a bit out of control though. Joe takes his cowboy hat to bed.

The following encounter makes me wonder if I have allowed too many westerns to enter our home:

"Joe, come here. "

"I'm not Joe."

"Who are you?"

"Just call me Kid."

Today I asked Joe if I could paint a shamrock on his face for the St. Patty's parade. "No, mom, I'm a cowboy. Cowboys don't paint their faces." I tried to tell him that he was a boy and could paint his face. "No, I'm a COWboy." He continued, "Only Indians paint their faces, when they are going to war." This was an argument I was not going to win.

It does come in handy sometimes though, like when I was a bad mother the other day and forgot to bring Joe's coat to the park. When he complained of the cold I just said that he reminded me of a cowboy, how he could be outside and not get cold. The complaining stopped immediately.

Joe asked Titus is he could build a fence in the front yard. "Why?" Titus asked. Joe's response was, "So I can keep a horse there." Once Joe found out that our front yard did not contain enough grass to keep a horse, he immediately decided to start a saving campain to buy some more grasslands. At Joe's current rate of income (which is nothing) this could take awhile. In the meantime he will have to stay busy packing his new favorite possession - a stuffed horse from Aunt Kaarene. Today he had it ready for travel, loaded down with maps, a bedroll, and even a bag for garbage.

I have to admit, I never knew it could be so much fun to have a cowboy in the house. Sometimes, life is even better than you expected.