Oh, structured days, how quickly I've taken ye for granted. The boys have the
afternoon off today, for the second time in two weeks. (They'll also be home
Thursday and Friday and another day two weeks from tomorrow - our school
district is really testing my mettle.) I've always kind of looked forward to
having them around on these days off,
but today I was reminded just how good it is for everyone's sake to have
the boys at school.
I picked up Ben, Paul, and Paul's BFF, Jonathon. On the
walk toward school, I carried Gus, who carried the umbrella, and he kept
dropping it on my head. Things only got worse when we walked in the door.
Jonathon's mom had dropped off his toys last night, and I knew right away this
would prove problematic. Just how bad, though, I had not anticipated.
Jonathon immediately asked for his box of Skylanders. If
you're not familiar with Skylanders, they're little figures that link to a
video game. I hate them because they're expensive and cheap at the same time,
if you catch my drift. You can expect to pay anywhere from $9 to $15 for one,
but they break really easily. Paul loves them, so of course, Gus fell hard for
them, too.
I knew as soon as I laid the box in Jonathon's hands, Gus
would go ballistic. We, of course, have our own box filled with Skylanders, but that would be nothing next to the forbidden fruit of Jonathon's stuff. I was right in my prediction, natch. Paul and Jonathon preemptively and vociferously
warned Gus to keep his hands off Jonathon's stuff. It immediately escalated
into a screaming match. Gus was apoplectic, screeching, "Just let me
see!" Jonathon yelled back, "I can't trust you! You're going to break
them!" Fair enough. Because of the aforementioned cheap construction, and
because I think it's fair for Jonathon not to want Paul's brother touching his
stuff, I was not keen on Gus getting his hands on them, either. I understand
Paul and Jonathon, I really do. Gus can be super-annoying and persistent. And
yet, it's got to be hard to be the youngest.
Ben jumped to Gus's defense, which was kind of sweet, but
in reality, it only made matters worse. Now everyone was yelling at one another
- Ben arguing like a champion debater, Jonathon now telling Ben to be quiet, Gus having a full-on temper tantrum.
Over the shouting, I tried to explain to Paul and Jonathon that sometimes with
little kids, it's better to just indulge them for a little bit to get the
desire out of their system. You know, let him look at a few, hold them for a couple minutes. Gus never stays on one track for too long, after all.
It didn't work - can you imagine? All the while, I was trying to get their
lunch on the table. I was ready to start doing some yelling of my own.
I got the meal served, and things calmed down a bit after
that. After eating his chips and orange,
Jonathon declared that he had no room for the sandwich I'd made him.
This happened a few weeks ago when Jonathon slept over, too. We were eating
pizza for supper, and he said, "Jess, I ate supper before I came, so I'm
not really hungry." He'd arrived at 2:30. Side note: I'm not one who's
ever cared how kids address me - whatever their parents' preference for
addressing adults is fine with me. Somehow the informality of this 6-year-old
calling me "Jess" always throws me for a loop and makes me giggle a bit.
This play date has been under way for two hours now, and
things are going fairly smoothly at the moment. For my sanity, though, I think
the forecast for get-togethers at our house on Thursday and Friday looks poor. And next time Jonathon comes to play, I hope to God he leaves that *%$@ box at home.
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