Weather: Hot--high 80s--but not as humid.

Watching: An excellent Sports Night rerun.

Parental Observation Du Jour: Daniel was coughing a lot during dinner. Every time I reminded him to cover his mouth, Matthew would force a dramatic cough, making sure that I noticed that he was covering his mouth. "How about me, Mama?" he would ask.

I'm afraid Matthew is the type of kid who is destined to get beaten up a lot in playgrounds. I can only hope that his brothers will protect him, but I suspect they will be the ones holding him down for others to pummel.

Frayed Nerves

Today was Commencement at the university. I'd forgotten about it until we drove into Princeton to drop off Tab this morning and encountered much more traffic than usual and lots of out-of-state license plates on the cars. Tab said he planned to lie low, eat his lunch in his office and not venture outdoors unless absolutely necessary.

Conversation in the Car--I

A car trip, even a short one, with all three boys takes its toll on our frayed parental nerves. On the drive into Princeton, Daniel kept teasing Stephen, and Stephen was screeching in protest.

"Stop annoying your brother, Daniel," I said.

"Remember, Daniel was away for a few days," Tab said. "He has a lot of annoyance to catch up on."

Because Daniel had swimming lessons after school for the past four weeks, we haven't visited Ground Round for the Tuesday night kids' "Penny-a-Pound" special in more than a month. So this evening after we picked up Tab at work, we drove down to Bordentown. The first thing we saw when we walked into the restaurant was a sign announcing the end of the penny-a-pound deal after tonight. We were disappointed, but not as chagrined as we would have been if we had come in next Tuesday night, not knowing the special was over.

Conversation in the Car--II

On the way back from Ground Round, Daniel and Stephen were playing with Daniel's paper menu that he had colored with crayons. Then Stephen dropped it on the floor where Daniel could not reach it.

An agonized wail from the back of the minivan: "That's it Stephen! I'm really mad at you! I'm not letting you come into my room for 20 plus 20 days!"

"So? I don't care," answered Stephen.

"No, I'm not letting you in for 10 plus 10 plus 10 plus 10 plus 10 plus 10 plus 10 days!"

No response from Stephen to this ultimatum, but he apparently turned around and scowled at Daniel.

"Stop making faces at me! Matthew, don't look at Stephen's bad, stupid face."

"Don't say 'stupid,' Daniel," I interjected. That's one word I really hate.

"Yeah, Daniel," Stephen chimed in.

Daniel blew a raspberry at Stephen.

"Daniel spit at me, Mama!"

"Well, what do you expect? You were making faces at me so what do you expect?" responded Daniel.

"Cut it out, Daniel!"

"No, you cut it out!"

All along, Matthew had been siding with Daniel and adding little digs at Stephen, who finally lost his temper with his twin.

"Reno hit me!" cried Matthew.

"No, I didn't," Stephen said.

"Yes, you did, Stephen," said Daniel. "Don't lie. Liar, liar, pants on fire."

"Mama, Daniel got fire on me!"

All this in just a ten mile trip home from Bordentown. You can't imagine how much I am looking forward to our ten-hour car trip to Maine in August.

previous       index       e-mail me       next