26 December 2009

Boxing Day


Last spring a brother & sister pair of the twins' friends moved away. Twins very sad. Earlier this week, though, these friends suddenly showed up in the neighborhood again, their mom brought them back to visit. Twins overjoyed. Before I knew it, I'd been lured into agreeing to a sleepover. Lasting from noon Saturday to 8 pm Sunday. Twins now ecstatic.


Was I nuts? With next door neighbor's kid also included, this means I am housing and feeding and shushing and first aiding five middle schoolers for 20 hours. Would I be up for this?

Sure, why not. They are all great kids, at that fascinating time of life when they're capable of flashes of impressive maturity and sometimes squabble like three year olds. But having hopped on the roller coaster, I can't get off now, so I'm going to enjoy the ride as much as possible. The swimming pool, the X-Box, ice cream in the freezer, and a trip to the grocery store tonight so they can pick what they will cook for themselves for breakfast tomorrow should all help. I can't wait till tomorrow morning to hear what pranks they've pulled on each other during the night. I've already gotten private requests for advice on that. Why on earth would they think such an angelic person as myself would know anything about pranks?

I'll probably take them to Balboa Park tomorrow or something like that to get them out of the house and work off some of that energy. And no, they're not sleeping in tomorrow either. If I wake them up early, they'll hate me--which is part of the ritual, no?--and the other parents will thank me later. Should be a delightful day.

2 comments:

Joey said...

Middle schoolers are the BEST age to work with. I love it. They are at that age where they want to exert their maturity (huh!) and independence. At the same time they still need you...all the time.

Enjoy this time with the middle schoolers. It won't last, unfortunately.

The Wife said...

I agree with JC. I loved teaching middle school kids for the short while I did. They're in a stage of life where I think adults can have a huge impact in giving the direction they need for life.