Would You Care For a Mint, Ma'am? Hors d'oeuvres?

My husband and I have recently begun receiving turn-down service in the evenings. For no obvious reason, my almost 9 year-old son has been sneaking into our bedroom and making our bed.  He then sets out a little homemade placard that says "Relax, Revive, Refresh."  Under the placard he carefully arranges a couple of candies.  Once it was jellybeans, another time it was chocolate-covered espresso beans. I have no explanation.  He hasn't done anything bad, that I'm aware of, nor is he currying favor or trying to earn some sort of big purchase.  I realize this sounds made-up, but here's a picture (I ate the chocolate already.):

I am aware that this is all a bit show-offy, but please consider that I am simultaneously admitting that I never make my bed, and my kid does it for me. Possibly out of pity, or shame. My meager list of housekeeping skills/priorities just does not include making my bed every morning. Judge if you must.  Secondly, be honest.  If your kid did this, would you not mention it at least to a couple of people?

The fact is, he is an awesome kid with an old soul, but admittedly often deviates from the norms of behavior for other kids his age. Not too long ago, he said to me, "Mom.  I'm hungry."  I told him to go make himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So naturally, he got out the rolling pin and rolled the slice of bread flat and cut off the crust.  He then put a banana on the bread, and a stripe of peanut butter and a stripe of jelly, and rolled the bread up and sliced it into 1/2 inch slices. Ta-da!  Peanut butter, jelly and banana sushi rolls.

His didn't look quite as neat as Rachel Ray's, but you get the idea.

This was one of his original hors d'oeuvre creations-
Toasted parmesan cheese and corn wrapped in smoked turkey slices.
He took the picture himself, because he's trying really hard to make it onto my food blog.

He told me that the librarian at his school, who just retired, overheard him whistling the theme song to Gilligan's Island and got it stuck in her head. She had expressed surprise that he was not only familiar with the theme song but also the characters and the series in general- it did after all originally air in the mid-1960s.  His interest in old-timey stuff partly our fault, as we often talk about things that happened in the 90s.  And also Amazon, because my husband found a deal where we got the entire series for under $30.  It's really a terrible show, but the kids loved it.  We were (and are still) able to use it as a bribe:  If you get ready for bed efficiently and cooperatively, you guys can watch an episode of Gilligan's Island. 

Halloween 2010. And no, there is no Professor on the way.
You can read my Hotel Camping post for details on that.

It's really kind of neat, having a kid like my son. He converses well with older adults, who find him interesting if not charming- when he's not being sullen.  The hors d'oeuvres are creative and tasty- even if the countertop has peanut butter and jelly glopped all over it. And who doesn't appreciate a jellybean at the end of a long day at the office? So my answer, when he asks for extra snuggles at night (I figure my pre-bedtime snuggles with him are limited anyway, as he merges into tweenhood), is always emphatically yes.