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"A few days before the last blizzard it was actually quite pleasant out, so JD and I ventured just outside our apartment to master kicking a ball on the lawn. JD collected pinecones while I kicked the ball and said, &amp;quot;Look, JD, Ka-ick! Ka-ick!&amp;quot; We did this several days in a row and JD got into the habit of saying &amp;quot;ba-wall&amp;quot; when I put his sneakers on. Then one afternoon when JD was sleeping and I was working I noticed a few kids from the complex playing with the ball I left on our stoop. I didn&amp;#39;t think anything of it and got back to work. The kids&amp;#39; squealing and laughter and the sound of the ball hitting their shoes played on repeat in the distance. It was actually quite lovely. (I know. I used to think beeping horns from taxi cabs was lovely. Cha-Cha Changes.)The next day we went outside, not to play, but to run an errand, and JD didn&amp;#39;t know that, so he said &amp;quot;ba-wall&amp;quot; anyway. But the ball was gone. JD pointed to the lone spot where I kept it and said &amp;quot;ba-wall&amp;quot; in an almost question mark. Um, melt. Now where the eff is our ball!?\nI kid, I kid. I got it at the dollar store and besides, he has like seven balls in our apartment. Still, every time we walked past that spot JD said &amp;quot;ba-wall&amp;quot; without fail. Then it got freezing again and it snowed hard and we couldn&amp;#39;t play with the ball anyway so we both kind of forgot about it. That is until this past weekend when it was pushing 70 degrees and smelling like, mmmm, grass and dirt from all directions. (I swear a bluebird sat on the windowsill and sang a little song to JD and me during breakfast.)\nJD was napping and I was working at my desk that sits next to a big picture window. My ears perked up when I heard a thwacking, kicking noise. *The ball, the ball! * And it wasn&amp;#39;t the ball, people, it was the point that someone literally took it off our stoop, played with it and didn&amp;#39;t return it. I stuck my nose against the screen and saw two junior high school boys playing with it.\n&amp;quot;What&amp;#39;s up guys?&amp;quot; I said.\n&amp;quot;Chilling,&amp;quot; one said.\n&amp;quot;That&amp;#39;s my son&amp;#39;s ball,&amp;quot; I said, and the kid picked it up, said sorry and extended it to the window.\n&amp;quot;No, no, please, play with it! Have fun. When you&amp;#39;re done though, can you just put it back here on the stoop for him?&amp;quot;\n&amp;quot;Sure!&amp;quot; the boys said.\n&amp;quot;Cool! Enjoy!&amp;quot;\n&amp;quot;Thanks Ma&amp;#39;am,&amp;quot; one said. *Ma&amp;#39;am! I&amp;#39;m a Ma&amp;#39;am! Me? What?!*Twenty minutes later the kicking noise stopped. I arched back in my chair and watched the two boys walk away with the ball. JD&amp;#39;s ball. I did not pull a scary mean-lady move and chase them with a broom. I chuckled to myself and got back to work. Still, it occurred to me there was something very resistant about me\nnot\nplunging out of the door yelling, &amp;quot;hey, hey, hey!&amp;quot; Maybe I was looking around for the &amp;quot;mother&amp;quot; to take control of the situation. Oh, right, I&amp;#39;m the mother now. I&amp;#39;m not the too-cool-for-school writer girl with the Boho curtains and monsterous plant in the window. The one who dances in the kitchen while she cooks spaghetti or wears leggings and Converse and big billowy scarfs almost every single day, with her unwashed hair piled in a big messy bun. I&amp;#39;m in charge (Me!) even if I don&amp;#39;t always want to be, like when wise-a*s kids steal *\nmy kid&amp;#39;s\n\nball...\n\nWhat would\nyou\nhave done? Said something? Let it go? And yes, JD said &amp;quot;Ba-wall&amp;quot; that afternoon when we walked to our* Jeep.* And yes, I took him to the dollar store (place is awesome--I got five dish towels for a buck) and he picked out a new yellow &amp;quot;ba-wall&amp;quot; that I now keep locked in the hatchback of my truck because I&amp;#39;m too cheap to pay $50 extra a month for a garage.\nPS: I did not email the unemployment angel. Yet.\nPSS: Ridiculously cute pic of JD and me on Smitten today. My girlfriend Sherri took it."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/story/a-few-days-before-the>