Boys and Other Odd Things

Boys are... different. As my readers know, I have only girls, so boys for any length of time are a new experience for me. These are good boys, neighbor kids, here fairly often anyway (especially during the summer), but I usually only see them as they wander in and out with my girls, eating Otter Pops and trying to earn Treasure Box Picks by helping my girls clean up their room. Or flipping out at Halloween because the universe is conspiring against them in their endless quest for a Kit-Kat. Or at birthday parties.

The point being, I usually see them in fits and starts; they're not often here for several hours at a time. But today the kids are off school for mid-winter break, the boys' parents had an appointment to keep, and their mom asked if I could keep them rather than her trying to drag them along with her all day. Sure, why not, we're all here today, they're good boys, sure.

I'm never sure how to entertain boy-children (indoors) though, so I bought a new pack of construction paper and writing utensils (buy two get one free, yay!). Apparently this was unnecessary; I totally forgot how much all the older kids - regardless of gender - like LEGO Indiana Jones. That said, one can always use more art supplies, and they can't take turns playing Wii all day. The elder of the two (10) tends to sing along with the in-game music. The younger (8; they bracket Abby in age) is quieter, but every so often he jumps up and shrieks with excitement.

When they got here this morning, before they even took off their coats and shoes, the assured me that if they didn't behave, they'd be grounded for a month. They are charmingly thrilled at the prospect of pizza (and root beer!) for lunch.

Before they came, Abby and I moved the couch out as far as we could without actually disassembling it (it's a sectional, and quite heavy), and pulled all sorts of junk out from under it; there's enough to half-fill a laundry basket. Some of this is literal junk - scraps of paper, broken Happy Meal toys - but most of it is stray socks and hair clips and LEGO pieces and board books. Tomorrow when there are no children here, I shall actually take the couch apart and see if I can find my missing orthotic insert and the TV remote.