Book Entry 130: 1979 The "Newspaper Sneak"

Adam was always busy.  His sisters kept him busy when they were home.  Larry and I kept him busy when the girls were gone.  

Adam learned to vacuum, bake cookies, and clean up after the dogs when he was very young.  The jobs I gave Adam weren’t much fun compared to what he got to do when he went out in the shop with Larry.

When he spent time with Larry he learned about tools and cars.  He learned how to unscrew bolts and clean grease off parts.  Being in the shop was a lot more fun that being in the house!

Occasionally when Larry would give Adam a little job to do Adam would say, “I can’t.”  Larry would gently reply by saying, “There is no such word as can’t.  You just need to try.”  Adam would stiffen up, and pull his jeans up at the waste, and try.  The harder he tried to prove his dad was wrong the more he proved he was right.  

Adam developed a very good trait.  He soon believed there was nothing he couldn’t do.  And… if he couldn’t do it alone he could do it with his dad’s help.

I remember one evening I called the family to dinner.  Everyone came but Adam.  Larry and I took a quick look in all the hiding places but couldn’t find him.  Larry saw something moving in the front yard from the dining room window.  It was Adam.

The evening paper had arrived and was lying out next to the road.  Adam knew he wasn’t supposed to be in the front yard alone and he knew he certainly was not to go close to the road.  Larry called me to the window where we watched to see what Adam was going to do.

Adam took several steps toward the paper then stopped with a jerk to look up and down the street.  He waited a couple of seconds before he took a few more steps and made another close inspection of the road.  It looked like he was sneaking up on the paper.  When he was just a few feet from the paper he darted to it, stooped to pick it up, turned back toward the house and ran full speed to the back gate.

We heard the back door open, we heard his little boots against the floor, then silence as he came the last few yards across the carpet.  Sheepishly and proudly he handed the wrapped newspaper to his dad.  

“Thank you,” Larry said.  “But you know you aren’t supposed to be in the front yard, you know you can’t do that.”  Adams face changed from a smile to a frown and back to a smile as he answered his dad, “There is no such word as can’t daddy.  I just tried and did it.”

Adam added collecting the paper every night to his little list of chores.  From that night forward he was able to use the front door.  We always knew when he was going and we always watched.  For months he continued sneaking up on the paper a few steps at a time while watching the road.  Little did he know while he watched the road we were watching him!