I don’t know where

 he gets his ideas.

Sidney had been asking for a cane for weeks.  He was even going to buy one, which is kind of unusual for Sidney.  He rarely wants something enough to spend money on it.  Like Sid and me, he usually dwells on a possible purchase for days, maybe even weeks, and more often than not, decides he doesn’t really need it anyway.  But the cane was more than just a passing fancy.  He was ready to buy a cane.  I counseled him to put off the purchase a few weeks and ask around in the event that a grandparent or relative had an old cane laying around in a basement.

It turns out that my mom didn’t have an old cane laying around.  She had a very nice, hand-carved cane tucked back in a closet that she felt no special attachment for so she gave it to Sidney.  He took it straight home and . . . . . . .

He has also been wanting a pipe, but the current anti-smoking culture we live in doesn’t make it easy for a boy to buy a pipe just anywhere.  He had to get creative.

I just hope he doesn’t get it into his head to “pretend” his arthritis prevents him from bending over and picking up all those clothes on the floor.  I really need his help keeping up with laundry around here.

He was also helpful when I was sick last week.  Without going into detail, I will say that I lost 7 lbs in 8 hours and had both “spigots” running.  At one point, I had barely grabbed the trash can in time to capture my stomach contents.  Too sick to move, I asked Sidney to take the trash can  outside to dump it.  Being the kind of kid he is, he reassured me that it was okay that I had thrown up in the trash can because it is plastic.  Even though the hydrochloric acid in my stomach is pretty mean stuff, it wouldn’t eat through the plastic.

When Sidney took the trash can outside, I noticed he was stayed out a lot longer than necessary.  Later, he came back in with a speculative look in his eye.  I was kind of sick and having trouble following his conversation, but I did catch something about hydrochloric acid not reacting with plastic but perhaps if he put some on metal . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I don’t know and I didn’t ask.