So … maybe they’re not so grown up yet …

The other day I blogged about how wonderful it was that my boys were growing into young men I was proud of.  All I can guess is that Julian must have read my blog … because last night I swear he regressed … He teamed up with Kaleigh for goodness sake! 

It started a few weeks back with me borrowing the movie The Hangover from a friend of mine (my carpool driver and fellow Scout Leader).  I still haven’t watched it … it looks cute but a little low-brow, and I just haven’t been in the right mood for low-brow humor lately.  But I do have teenage boys … 4 of them, to be exact.  Plus a 20 year old.  Come to think of it, that’s probably why low-brow humor doesn’t appeal to me right now … I’m too busy living it!

Anyway, the boys watched it, and I’ve been trying to return it to him for a week+ now, but we seem to both keep forgetting.  I’ll bring it to Scouts, and then forget it in the car.  He’ll ask for it on the way to work and I’ll have left it at home.  Both of us, while laughing it off, were getting frustrated over it.  So … I decided to put an end to it.  Last night, before going shopping with the WEBELOS, I got his movie together.  I put it on the table by the door and put my work badge on top of it to remind myself to return it in the morning.

Then … my children happened.  When I got back from shopping, the movie was still there.  My badge was gone.  I yelled and screamed organized the troops to start tearing the house apart looking for my badge.  Topher said “You should put a beeper on it” … and then wisely shut up when I glared at him.  We looked around the table by the door to see if it fell.  It didn’t take long to figure out it wasn’t there, at which point suspicion fell on my little she devil gorgeous daughter.

She looks so precious, cute, and innocent.

It’s really deceptive, isn’t it?

“Kaleigh, did you see a picture of Daddy?”

“Daddy?”

“Yes, a little picture of Daddy!” (hands making a square about the size of a credit card)

“Yep!”

“WOW!  Where is it?”

“Dono … sgone!”

“Where did you see it?”

“Dono … sgone!”

Thus sort-of confirming she had it!  When you have a nearly 4000 square foot house this is the kiss of doom!  As they said when trying to sell you knives, though:  But Wait!  There’s More! 

After looking for almost an hour, Julian suddenly gets this look of clarity on his face.  Seriously, I think if I’d have held a light bulb over his head it would have lit up.  He stands up, walks across the house like he has a purpose.  He walks to the dining room table, reaches across the mess that piles up there … crap the kids leave there … hmm … can’t think of a good way to say that.  Anyway, he reaches across to the middle of the table, where Kaleigh can’t reach so nobody thought to look there and picks up my badge.

“This one?”

“umm … yeah … how the hell did it get there?”

“Kaleigh was playing with it earlier, so I took it away from her because I knew it was important.”


wait for it.


you know it’s coming.


“I put it in a safe place … I just remembered.”

Yeah.  So much for growing up.

I’ll survive this … and so, with the grace of God, will they.

         aka: goofdad