Currently we live in the country.  This suits three out of four of my children.  When we were looking for a house I told my husband that it had to be out in the country with enough property for two growing boys to romp and play.  I didn't want to live in town with my sons cooped up in a tiny back yard.  Running around the neighborhood was and is not an option.  

While running around the neighborhood was a memorable experience for Dear Man, we don't live in times like that anymore.  I grew up in the country and ran around the five acres my parents had purchased.  Both of us spent most of our times outdoors.  It was fun and if you could get far enough away you might not be calld back to the house to do some chore. 

Tiki is not an outdoor boy.  When we send him out to play in an effort to rid him from our hair, he stands about not knowing what to do with himself.  He might shoot a few hoops or ride his bike for a bit but then he's back inside.  He has a wonderful imagination but he just can't seem to make it work out of doors. 

Several times he has complained that if he only lived in town he could do things that "real" boys do.  Like have a lemonade stand or deliver newspapers.  You don't get huge profits from lemonade on a dead end road that most people don't know about. In order to deliver newspapers in our area he would have to have a mountain bike and I'm sure a route covers ten miles or so.  It's just not an ideal setting for my entrepreneurial son.

Recently though an offer to deliver newspapers as a substitute for some friends of ours came along.  Tiki was thrilled to pieces!  The girls were not so keen on the idea but having no other choice they decided to buck up.  We have to drive to town in order to deliver the papers and as it is several routes we drive half of it and the other half is walked. 

This is our second time subbing and Tiki ran around like a pro.  Only at one home does he get to throw the newspaper onto the porch from the sidewalk.  To him that is the end all of being a paper boy.  He just loves that house! 

As we drive along, Tiki grabs a paper to get ready and then he hops out of the car and runs up to the house in need of a paper.  After carefully placing it as the subscriber has requested, he runs back to the car and off we go to the next stop.  Today I said, "Hurry, hurry!"  He opened the car door and said, "Go, go, go!" as he ducked and ran just as if he was a special forces soldier on patrol. See, he has imagination and he can play, but not in the "wild". 

At any rate I won't be the least bit surprised if he figures out a way to sell lemonade while he delivers papers. I don't even want to think about the kind of vehicle he would want me drive for that.  

I have no idea where Tiki got the idea that "real" boys only have odd jobs.  A book or two somewhere along the line I'm sure.  I need to find a book or two about some boys who just go outside and play all day long until their stomach notifies them that mother has baked a pie and it must be time for dinner. Let me know if you've read any such books.  I'm getting desperate.