I haven't been entirely sure of the actual date of Easter this year, but I don't blame myself, seeing as all days blend into each other a little bit now/still due to the pandemic. So, a week ahead of schedule, the boys and I did some Easter egg coloring.
We used crayons and dye and each boy decorated 4 eggs. Soon, it dawned on me that Easter was still a week away, so we sacrificed those eggs and brought them to Mom and Maurice's house for a spring time lunch with Aunt Helen.
Cassius was mad about something when we first arrived and just sulked in the car, but eventually, he got happy and came to join us at lunch. Here he is showing Aunt Helen the How Things Work book we brought home from Mom and Maurice's basement along with a bunch of other books for the boys. None for me...but I did get back my Ramones t-shirt from my high school punk days. I gave it to Maceo so he can be cool.
Both boys got rambunctious, as per the usual schedule, and so we left.
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| "Don't squash Mamy's daffodils!!!" |
This current week, I've been on spring break, but the boys have school. So, I've been working around the house and the boys have gone off to their various pods. I did host the pod on Thursday--7 boys and a cold, slightly damp day. We had some ups and downs--that's how pod works! But during their lunch time break, I took them for a tramp through the neighborhood to a house where the residents put out treats in a mailbox for the neighborhood kids. The theme is whatever recent holiday is occurring, and the woman has been doing this for months--Hallowe'en, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's, etc. As we walked , the boys played the ridiculous game of "Ladies First", so they trailed along behind me, as I know gender doesn't switch according to line order.
It was a nice walk, and we practiced our lefts and rights along the way as well as our screaming, pushing, falling, and teasing skills.
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| Candy hunters returning from their expedition |
On the way home, the boys enjoyed the spoils, and when we got home, I thanked them all for sharing their candy with me. Maceo said, "No, we didn't" a little quizzically, and I burst into mock sobs at the lack of candy I'd received. Oliver, a second grader, said, "Mr. Nick, you an have my Hershey's because I don't like Hershey's." For the rest of the day, I thanked him profusely for giving me his favorite chocolate to which he insisted that he didn't like Hershey's, and I pretended that I knew he really loved them.
After pod, Carter and Parker, who are allowed to walk home by themselves, stayed and the boys played outside. I could hear their yelling and screaming, so I knew they were all right. But eventually, they came in and told me my neighbor, Mr. Pugh, had come out and told them they couldn't play in his yard anymore. As the story came out in drips and drabs, it turned out they were "sword fighting" with sticks and they'd hit his car. More information came out, and I learned that Cassius and Carter had thrown their sticks and hit his car twice. We went to check it out and there was a scratch on his front fender! Both boys wrote apology letters, and I told Cassius he may have to pay for the damages. "But I don't want to pay for it!" he told me. We walked over and the boys apologized. Mr. Pugh was super nice about it, although he confessed he was quite taken aback by the boys' ferocity, and he declined our offer to pay for painting over the scratch. Once we got home, the boys and I talked about the lessons we'd learned: Maceo offered, "No throwing sticks near cars" which I thought was a little too specific. Cassius offered, "We have to follow Mr. Pugh's rules":again, I told them, that's a little specific. In the end, we agreed on being conscious of consideration for people around us; thinking about the possible outcomes of our actions; and that even though taking responsibility for mistakes can be scary, it's not as bad as we fear it's going to be, most of the time.
Whew. A full day of parenting!
