As I have mentioned before, Max loves Michael Westen from the TV show Burn Notice. Maybe it’s his aviators. Maybe it’s his designer suits . Or maybe it’s his completely BA (this is a family friendly blog) spy skills. But what ever the reason, Max is completely enamored with the burned spy. Many of his afternoons are spent running around the house in a pair of sunglasses and a suit jacket and is trying to convince my parents that he needs to go to Miami.
His devotion recently took an unexpected turn. Mom left Therese in charge while she went out to run some errands. Max was in the basement lost in his latest game of imaginary espionage and Therese was in the family room on the computer (she assures me she was reading the blog).
The phone started ringing…
“Hello, this is 911 we just received a hang up call from this number. Is everything ok?”
The realization of what must have happened hit Therese in the face. “Yes, we are all fine. I’m sorry my little brother must have picked up the phone and called you.”
“Well we are still going to have to send an officer to your house to make sure everything is all right.”
After apologizing again Therese went down stairs to confront Max. She found him hiding behind the couch and after a little coaxing she got to tell her why he had called 911.
“I wanted to be like Michael Westen!”
Therese told him that the police where coming to make sure that he was ok and to talk to him. Max quickly crawled back behind the couch and refused to come back out. (sidenote: he has had an irrational fear of the police ever since he started watching Cops with Miss. Jenny, a family friend. We’ve tried to teach him that the police are actually there to help you, but he is convinced that they will chase him down and throw him in jail. I remember one time when I pulled up next to a police cruiser at a stop light Max exclaimed “It’s the cops!” and threw himself down flat against the back seat!)
When the officer came to the house, poor Therese explained the situation to him again. He was really kind and said that he didn’t have to talk to Max as long as he understood that 911 is only for real emergencies and not for when you are playing games. Therese promised to pass along the message. And I’m happy to report that she is only slightly traumatized, it’s not everyday that the police show up when you are babysitting. Although I’m afraid that Max’s run in with the police has torn down any progress we had made in the “cops=friends” lessons. Guess it’s back to square one!
Max’s fan-boy devotion to all things Burn Notice doesn’t stop there. A few mornings ago when Dad woke up he found Max asleep on the couch in the family room. When asked why his wasn’t in his bed Max explained that Michael Westen had called him to come down stairs in the middle of the night. The season finale was recently on. Dad wouldn’t let Max stay up to watch because school was starting soon and they were trying to get back into a bedtime routine. Max, with a heavy heart cried himself to sleep that night. I think it’s safe to say that he is officially obsessed!
Mary attempting to curb his obsession staged an intervention. She sat Max down and explained to him that Michael Westen is not a real person, that he is really an actor named Jeffrey Donovan. So now instead of professing his love of Micheal Westen, he professes his love of Jeffery Donovan. Not quite the result she was hoping for, but it’s a start! One day at a time, right?
~ Leigh
Loving Max 