Jesus and Chuck E. Cheese
Our kids are getting smarter. That’s going to be more work. Last week, while responding to the kid’s request to go to Chuck E. Cheese, I used the standard, “Mommy and Daddy are a team and we agree, we can’t go to Chuck E. Cheese today.” Immediately, PinkGirl replied, “Well, FavoriteBrother and PinkGirl are a team and we say YES!”
When I stuck to my guns (turning the rear view mirror of the van so she couldn’t see me laughing), she went for the “VBS” offense: “Jesus says we are supposed to be nice, Mommy. You are not being nice. Jesus would be nice and take us to Chuck E. Cheese. You have to be nice, not mean!” I didn’t have the heart to tell her Chuck E. Cheese wasn’t in the Bible.
PinkGirl, the social butterfly, is the kid who walks up to ANY child she sees and says, “My name is PinkGirl Mills.” Then, she tells them what role they are to play in the imaginary scenario she is acting out at the moment. “I’m the mommy, and you are the kid” is real popular, with “I’m the teacher, and you are the kid” coming in a close second.
FavoriteSon, on the other hand, won’t call one of his own friends on the phone to invite them to his birthday slumber party. Once the kid is AT the birthday party, they have a blast and nobody stops talking till after midnight.
Getting FavoriteSon to try new experiences is exhausting! I had to work one day last week and the summer day camp was to go on a field trip to see a Titanic exhibit. After hours of “Please, Mom, can’t you work another day?” he finally, sighed and said, “Well, I just hope they don’t see me yawning.” Hours later, I pick him up and say, “Well . . . FavoriteSon. Tell me. How many kids DIED . . . of boredom today? FavoriteSon grins and says, “None. It was cool!”
They are work, but the benefits are GREAT!
