When I picked up Ethan-9yr at school today, he immediately launched into a very long detailed account of why he was holding a candy cane. He had a great deal of passion and intensity and I tried to follow it but just couldn’t.

“Babe!” I stopped him with that one word, and put my hands on either side of his face. I should mention that Ethan-9yr has the sweetest, softest face ever. A few darling freckles. Huge brown eyes. He stopped his candy cane related monologue and waited to see what I wanted.

“Hello,” I said.

He cracked up. “Right. Hello.” And then he held my hand all the way to the car and went on and on and on about the candy cane. It was of vital importance. And since he’d humored me and stopped and said hello (and lets me hold his hand at school still), I tried to follow the story. And when he was finished, I said, “So you’re explaining why you have a candy cane today on your first day back and you’re hoping that it’s still candy cane eating season and you can eat it today even though it isn’t Christmas anymore but you don’t think I’m going to say yes because I’m not going to understand that your friend MEANT to give it to you on the last day before Christmas break and really he did but Daddy picked you up a few minutes early that day and  you better explain it exactly right so that I say yes, eat it, but don’t get the car all sticky ?”

I love  a good run-on sentence. I really do.

“YES!”

“Yeah, okay. Just don’t get the car all sticky.”

I give him an intense mommy style stare that tells him that no, i haven’t forgotten the caramel fight (oh yeah – you read that right) between him and Caden-5yr in the backseat this last summer. Ethan-9yr has been on restricted backseat food and beverage privileges ever since.

Whaaa? That was in the summer, and he’s STILL on probation…? Yes. I am that kind of mean. And if that seems harsh, then I am betting that you have never supervised the scrubbing of the interior of a large SUV with 3 little boys and a tub of Armor All wipes.

Because that is even crazier than a caramel fight.  That was insanity – and it would have been a world easier to just clean it up myself, but i thought I’d teach them  more if i made them do it.

And i was right.

I taught all of us that i cannot stand the supervision of three boys cleaning up the baked-on mess of an old caramel fight. It drives me nuts.

Anyway.

Ethan-9yr and I went to pick up Caden-5yr, who had a giant pink lollipop. He didn’t have a big speech prepared about why he had it. He just looked at me with his huge blue eyes and said, “please?”

Today I’m especially grateful for big-eyed boys who aren’t yet embarrassed to hold my hand at school, and who can be so easily thrilled with me agreeing to a small treat.

And I’m REALLY grateful for the fifteen minutes of  happy silence that occurs in a car where one boy chomps a candy cane and another boy tackles a too-big, pink lollipop.

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