Candy Thief

AJ and Chas take things at face value.  If they want something and I say no then they might not be happy but that will be the end of it.  Eli considers all communication to be a form of bargaining.  If given his best efforts, mommy still says no then generally he will do it anyway.  He is also the first to have realized that just because he can't see treats, doesn't mean they aren't there.  AJ and Chas have never found any of my stashes because it never occurred to them that they existed.  Eli has found ALL of my stashes. He has also come to the conclusion that everything his brothers have is WONDERFUL. 

So the other day AJ came in mad because the bag of candy he had brought home from a birthday party was missing.  "Who took my candy," he asked? 

Without looking up from the picture he was coloring, Eli said, "I did." 

Exasperated but also relieved, AJ asked where it was.  "In my drawer," Eli replied and chose another crayon. 

AJ raced to Eli's room and came back with the candy, completely intact, not a piece missing.  The funny thing about Eli is that while he has been known to decimate stashes, often enough he wants only to possess whatever he desires.  Toys his brothers own and he longs for will be carefully placed in his drawer.  Not to be played with, just to have.  While the frustration his brothers endure is extensive, I tend to marvel (and yes laugh a bit) at this little guy who will always fess up to what he has done and then retrieve it from his drawer.

Who needs a gun?

We have guns in our home, real and toys. The boys are aware of the differences and the responsibilities that come with each. In the beginning we didn't have toy guns. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about having my boys play with them and then one day it became clear. AJ came in to the room with a barbie in his hands - I admit to feeling proud that my son was over-coming gender designated toy rules. And then he walked over, bent Barbie in half aimed her at me and said bang bang!

I realized then that my boys were boys and liked guns. Since then we have accumulated quite the hoard but it still doesn't matter because they are quite adept at making anything into a gun! This week alone Eli has turned the following items into guns:

*the spout on Maddax's cereal box
*Pancake batter dispense
*hot wheel tracks
*hangers
*toilet paper/paper towel tubes
*hair brush/comb
*scrub brush
*straws
*blow dryer
*plastic fish
*dinosaur toys
*boot
*rolling pin
*wooden spoon
*grater
*fly swatter
*shoe horn
*ruler
*remote
*vacuum tools
*dustbuster
*spatula
*potato masher
*baster

Humilidation

AJ is eight now and quite the reader. His favorite books are the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series by Jeff Kinney. At night after the other boys have gone to bed he reads aloud to me from them. After hearing book #5 for the umpteenth time I purchased the entire series for him. He gleefully began at the beginning so that I wouldn't miss out on a thing. His vocabulary is starting to get ahead of him, usually with humorous results. Just last night as he sat reading to me he looked up to find me making faces at him.

"Are you trying to humilidate me?"

I couldn't help but laugh as I asked him what he meant.

"Humilidate! You are laughing at me!"

I could think of a few other definitions for the word he had created, most of them surrounding humiliation and dating but considering that as of now he hopes to live with us forever and never ever kiss a girl I don't think he would appreciate my suggestions.

I apologized for hurting his feelings. How do I explain that I LOVE him, his earnestness, his theatrics, his desire to be good all so much! I LOVE him reading to me and sharing something that he loves with me. This is why I tease him. I guess it is humilidation. After all, isn't that what kids on the playground do when they like someone? Tease them?