I went to pick up my older boys from the carnival at school. Swimming lessons were in T minus 20 minutes and we didn't have a moment to spare. When I arrived, I found Justin in the cotton candy line that was at least 20 minutes long. I extracted him. He argued.
Ethan fretted. He obviously wanted to tell me. I told him that it was okay and not to worry. Eager to strike a compromise, Ethan said he would tell Mom and then I could ask her. This garnered a scowl from Justin.
"I can ride my bike home while eating cotton candy in the dark," he protested.I turned to Ethan,
"Dude, give me some of your popcorn 'cause I gotta see that!"A dad standing nearby snorted. Justin was mad. When we finally got to the car, he was rude all the way home. We quickly donned our swim trunks, jumped back into the car and headed to the Y. As we pulled into the parking lot, Justin pipped up again.
"Please, Ethan. Please do not tell dad the cool thing that I did!"Clearly, he wanted to punish me for the misadventure of the cotton candy. This was his best effort.
Ethan fretted. He obviously wanted to tell me. I told him that it was okay and not to worry. Eager to strike a compromise, Ethan said he would tell Mom and then I could ask her. This garnered a scowl from Justin.
"Don't worry," I said. "Justin will tell me when he decides to stop being a butt!"
"Yeah, which will be never," Justin snapped.- 29 September 2011
