Sunday, June 10, 2007
We heard this morning that his name is Jacob! That's nice, don't you think?
My hope for Jacob is that he is docile and easygoing. First of all, when there are 2 kids age 2 or under in the house, that's a lot of demands. Having one that's less demanding would be a good thing for my brother and his wife's sanity.
As well, I am speaking from experience. I have two strong personalities in the house. Sarah and Rebecca, 2 matriarchs, as my sister reminded me this morning. Two people who feel they know better than the other and want to control their own destiny.
In other words, two people who ultimately will not be successful playing together.
Add that to Becca's occasional spontaneous deafness because of her ear infections, and you have a potentially explosive situation.
Here's how it typically goes.
Sarah: Becca, sweetie! Time to come play Barbies with me. You can be the boy and I will be the girl and we will go to the Prom and go dancing.
Becca: OK! (Takes Sarah's favorite Barbie girl out of the pile. This is NOT a random act... she knows full well that this is annoying, that she is violating the "rules" of the game, and there are by the way at least 47 other Barbies in that pile)
Sarah: BECCA! THAT'S MY BARBIE! HAND IT OVER!
(A word here about "mine". The girls know full well that toys that are kept in their room are not to be touched by the other, but any toy that's in a public play area can be played with by anyone. The 47 Barbies are in the playroom. So if she doesn't want this particular doll touched, it's her own fault.)
Becca: No! (Smack)
Sarah: DON'T HIT ME! GIVE ME MY BARBIE!
Becca: (Whack, scratch)
Sarah: (crying) EVERY TIME I TRY TO PLAY WITH YOU, YOU RUIN IT!
Parent: What's going on in here?
Sarah: (crying) BECCA TOOK MY BARBIE! AND SHE SMACKED, WHACKED, AND SCRATCHED ME!
Becca: I don't know.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
So Jacob, here's what I have to say. BE THE BOY BARBIE AND PLAY PROM, DAMN IT! WILL IT KILL YOU TO DO WHAT NORA WANTS? JUST THIS ONCE?
3 comments:
If Jacob is anything like his father, he will not be docile and easygoing. His daddy was the king of throwing himself on the floor and kicking his feet. Not a pretty picture.
Let's see now. Assuming they all manage to survive one another, the next generation is Sarah, Rebecca, Nora, Jacob, Zachary, Gabriel, MacKenzie, Isaac, Tate and Elliott - 6 boys, 4 girls for now - and a nice combo of Biblical and Gen Y last name-first names. Kind of mind-boggling when you try to take it all in, isn't it?
I never really thought of it that way! And ALL those girls have strong personalities... watch out!
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