Five boys…four of them brothers, one of them visiting, creating what I am deeming the Annual Conference of the Cousins. Yes, they meet at other times during the year, but with more adults, more food, and more festivities for whatever holiday is being celebrated.
There is no way for one (expectant) mom to keep up with the feeding, laundering, refereeing, and bathroom-seat-putting-downing and still blog all that is comical and precious about this year’s conference. And so, I’ll just list the quotes and memorables of each day of the visit. Our children will be referred to as usual (J, T, S, and G) and the cousin will be TE. Respective ages are 10, 8, 6, 3, and 5. Here are Monday’s sound bites:
* * * *
TE: Aunt Stephanie, why don’t you eat cereal a lot here?
[the comedy of this statement, of course, is that this child has no idea the appetite that will soon develop within his loins, an appetite that has come to life in the lives of three of my children and one I am constantly trying to satisfy while maximizing the grocery budget.
* * * *
TE: Why is everybody still sitting down?
This was asked when the evening movie was rolling credits. TE has been expertly trained to get up when the movie is over and move on to the next activity. Not sure if this is a function of being an only child or attending brick-n-mortar school, but he seemed so apprehensive about sitting back down on the sofa to wait for the next thing (which, of course, was another movie).
* * * *
BIG fight ensuing outside over a basketball and the way it’s being played/managed. Fight between S and TE; J is trying to referee. Mom-Aunt (M-A) calls S and TE in to discuss.
M-A: Have a seat boys [They sit on floor.] Do you know what happens when two people who like each other spend a lot of time together?
S and TE, shaking heads no.
M-A: They get sick of each other!
S and TE, eyes grow wide simultaneously.
M-A: And usually, instead of remembering why they liked each other in the first place, they just keep thinking of all the reasons they can’t stand the other person. And usually it’s just because they are tired or hungry.
TE raises hand and eyebrows in tandem.
M-A: Yes, TE?
TE: I think I’m hungry.
S: Yeah, me too.
M-A: So if you ate, you think you could get along?
S and TE nod in hefty agreement.
M-A provides yogurt with granola.
* * * *
TE, within minutes experiences another anomaly of the dietary life of a large family.
TE: Aunt Stephanie, I want peach yogurt.
M-A: Well, TE, we have strawberry.
TE: But why can’t I have peach?
M-A: Because we only have one container [I gesture to the 5-pound container emptied weekly in our home; it’s only available in three flavors] and until this one is empty, we eat strawberry. Would you like granola?
TE: [looking so puzzled, mostly because I don’t think he knew yogurt came in such large containers, as opposed to 6-oz cups or freezable tubes.] Um, well, okay.
* * * *
M-A would like to thank TE’s mother for forgetting her 6-oz cup of strawberry-banana yogurt that she left in the fridge. It was delicious as I typed this blog!
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