If You Think Three Is Tough, Try Five

No. 1 Bro, No. 1 Son

Now if it hard to be three, it is also true that it can be tough to be five--and the older brother of a three-year-old sister.

After all, when you're five, you still have to do things you don't really like and sometimes, on top of all that, you have to endure some adult telling you why it's not so bad, or it's good for you, or why you'll be glad someday you did the thing you didn't like today. For Joe, one of these things is navigating Kid's Place at drop off which every morning is like walking into a party when you aren't sure if your friends have arrived, except there's no punch bowl if they haven't.

A week ago Friday, Julie dropped Joe off instead of Ted.  She spent more time at home with the bambini in an effort to maximize the amount of time Joe would have to be at Kid's Place.  It was only after she and Joe had dropped Clara off and were walking down the hall at KinderCare that Joe asked if they were going to Starfoxes, and Julie learned that this was how Joe and Ted roll on Friday mornings. She told Joe she was so sorry, but that she wasn't taking him to Starfoxes before they went to Kid's Place.  He all but trudged down the hall, and Julie's heart twisted all up.  So she sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby and called Joe over.  Instead of trying to push some silver lining on him, she just said the situation sucked.  (She said it in five-year-old appropriate language, but that was the gist.)  Joe hugged her, and while they were hugging, Julie said, "Let's go do this Kid's Place thing," which they did, or rather Joe did, and he did it great, even if it remains not so great most days.

Julie felt really solid about that bit of parenting.  But in this game, one minute you're up, and the next minute you're down.  This morning, Julie and Ted took the bambini to the apple orchard they've been going to for a number of years now.  There is a train-playground thing there on which the bambini were playing in a huge scrum of kids until a teary Joe came streaming toward Julie and said that Clara had stepped on his hand and didn't even apologize.  Julie told Joe it must have been an accident--so many kids and all--but that Clara should have apologize.  Julie called Clara over so that Joe could tell her instead what he'd told Julie.  He did, but no sooner had he said his piece than Clara started protesting that she had to step on Joe's hand because he wouldn't move--!!!!!  After they'd sorted that stepping on someone else's hand is never o-kay, Julie apologize to Joe.  She told him she was sorry for immediately assuming that it must have been an accident; that she'd just wanted to think the best of Clara--not that she'd stepped on his hand on purpose.  To which Joe said, "Well, she DID!"  Can't argue with that.

It only looks like there are no other children here.  That is an illusion created by an opportune perspective and click of the shutter.  In reality, there there approximately 3,000 children at the orchard.

Riding the train pulled by a little tractor.

Headed back to the station!

Before the hand was stepped on.  (After faces were painted.)