There used to be a time when I would help Jalen (my little cousin) to clean himself when he’d go into the restroom. Heck, it took forever to get him potty trained. He was nearly 3 years old before he got potty trained (blame his parents). But now that he’s 4 years old, and I guess he’s gained some type of independence overnight.

After spending a month with one of his grandmothers, then a week with the other grandmother, Jalen has come back a man. When he excused himself the other day to go potty, I got up to accompany him to the bathroom. I figured I’d do my same routine and make sure that he’s cleaned himself and assist him in washing his hands, but this time he stopped me at the bathroom door.

He said, “Nikki, I got this,” and slammed the bathroom door in my face. It kinda took me aback. My little man is growing up. Which is a good thing, but I wasn’t expecting it so soon.

Oh, and speaking of Jalen, his mom is pregnant again……….with a 5th child. Also another boy. This will make 5 boys and both she and her husband are under the age of 25. Jesus wept.

Jalen doing his Simba routine

Today, my mother’s brother, Howard, was laid to rest. But believe it or not, it wasn’t a sad ocassion. The minister who delivered the eulogy was my uncle’s godson, and he filled us with food for meditation with his sermon. It was one of the best homegoing ceremonies that I’ve ever attended.

After the funeral, we headed over to my Aunt Lynn’s house for the repast. Everyone told wonderful stories of my uncle, we dined on some great Southern cuisine, and the kids kept us entertained with their games, as well as singing and dancing with us big kids.

Anyway, you guys know I’m always armed with a camera or two, so I was snapping pictures left and right. But something caught my eye when one of the kids stopped to pose for me. I discovered that my little cousin Jonathan got tooth jacked!

I asked him, “Jon Jon, what happened?” He said, “The tooth fairy snuck up behind me when I wasn’t looking.” And here’s what I saw when he flashed his smile.

Click pic to enlarge.

It was beautiful here on Saturday. The temperature lingered in the mid 70’s, so I took advantage of the day and spent it with my godson and little cousins. I loaded up the rugrats in my car and we headed to the park.

We played on the monkey bars, slid on the sliding board, went up and down on the seesaw, got dizzy on the merry-go-round, then we tackled the swings. I hadn’t been on a swing set in ages. In fact, the last time I was in a swing, it was one of those lawn swings where 2-3 people sit and converse.

But I thought, what the heck, I might as well show the kids how I won the title of swinging champion of my 2nd grade class. I must have been suffering from delusions of grandeur, because swinging at age 7 does not compare to swinging when you’re in your 30’s.

I kept thinking about the rush I would feel as a child when I’d swing really high and then jump out of the seat of the swing, as if I were flying. I made the huge mistake of trying it as an adult. And what made it worse was that the kids were egging me on.

They kept chanting, “Higher, swing higher!” So I gave the fans what they wanted. I kept swinging higher and higher until I felt that I was at a good height to jump out of the swing seat. So after like 20 or so swings, I launched my body into the air from the swing….

And I swear to you, my heart stopped while I was in midair. I’d launched myself with so much velocity, that I was not prepared for the landing, and I hit the ground with a ferocious thud.

My little cousins and godson ran to my aide with a look of fright in their eyes. But little Tyson was the only one who brought me back down to earth in another way when he said, “Nikki………..don’t do that no more.” Thus was the end to my life as a swinger.

I should be committed to an insane asylum right this instant. I called one of my cousins last night to inform her that I would be taking her step-daughter Jazmine and her oldest daughter Maria (ages 16 and 13) to a concert on next week.

Mario is scheduled to come to our city during the state fair and the tickets are only $5, so I thought they’d love to see him. These girls are crazy about Mario’s music and this will be their very first concert, so I want to make it a memorable one. Cool idea, huh? Well, I thought so too.

That was until I received 6 calls this morning from the mothers of Jazmine and Maria’s friends. Lawd, these girls have taken it upon themselves to invite 6 other girls to go along as well, and their mothers are calling me for permission for them to tag along. Picture this: Me and 8 screaming teenage girls at a Mario concert. Insanity!

Y’all, pray for me. I’mma need it next Tuesday night as I try to contain these young ladies while Mario becons you should let me love you to them.