Now That the Ides of February Have Passed

 

Starting on the Kalends of February and just as the Year of the Horse began, Charlie had a really tough time of it. 

(Let's put it this way: Traditionally, you clean your kitchen in anticipation of Chinese New Year and pray to the Kitchen God. After last weekend, we found ourselves with a cleaned-out kitchen, most of our cabinets having been emptied of dishes save for some soft plastic ones after the rest were hurled and thrown and I swept them into the garbage while Jim sat with Charlie. About 20 pounds of rice were cast upon the floor at 2am on Sunday night; this I consigned to the compost bin.)

In the middle of the week, after a major panic attack while Jim drove him to school on Tuesday morning, Charlie started to feel better.

And believe me, it could be a lot worse.