Our kids can argue about anything…even when they agree.  It’s not uncommon to have them arguing while being on the same side of an issue.  They’re our little Obama and Hillary. J

Of course, when one’s kids exhibit less then desirable behavior, it’s easy to feel that they’re the only ones like that, and everyone else has Beaver Cleaver or Gidget for kids.

So it was with some (great) comfort that I noticed two siblings entering school as I was exiting.  It was an older brother and his younger sister.  She ran up to the building and pushed the button, with the prominent blue wheel chair logo, that opened the door. 

The brother immediately yelled at her, ‘You can’t do that!   You’re not handicapped!’ (the ‘I’ in handicapped came out more like a long sequence of ‘e’s)  She then ran to the next door and did the same thing.  He then yelled to his Dad, who was getting a third one (does the dude know there’s a  way from stopping that from happening?  Anyway…) ‘Daaaaad!  She pushed the button and we’re not handeeeeeecapped!’

Yessir, nice to know we’re not alone!

This past Saturday, Brody and I returned home from guitar lessons.  We were having a new water heater installed and the box truck was parked in our driveway.  Maura, the two girls next door, and a doofy but well-meaning gal from two doors down (who is much like Peppermint Patty in her mannerisms and in her affection for Charlie ‘Chuck’ Brown  / Brody) had parked their beach chairs on the sidewalk in the shade of the truck.

Peppermint Patty had brought down a beginner guitar / toy and they were playing with it.  Brody was home few minutes and went out to talk to them.  Within minutes he ran back to the house, urgently needing his guitar (and a couple minutes later the music book).

Brody had finally realized the power of music: impressing girls on a lawn!  He played songs for the gals and obviously felt quite cool. 

Seeing him there on the lawn, with the gals around him as he played looked like some sort of scene from a college brochure.

One of the Brody’s qualities that I greatly appreciate is his sensitivity.  He is truly disturbed when he sees other hurt and confounded by those that would seek to harm others.  We can see this in what he enjoys reading or watching and in what he doesn’t enjoy (he cries during America’s Funniest Home Videos).  As such, it is also a quality that makes me nervous for him…caring about others is under appreciated, kids are pretty cruel and girls will break your heart just for shits and giggles.

That transference notwithstanding, such sensitivity was on display again the past couple nights.

For Earth Day, he and I have started reading the ‘Kids’ version of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.  It’s a concise version of the original book (which we also own…more so I can say I own it; having seen the movie and now reading this book, I don’t know that I’ll trudge through the more detailed tome’).  After a few chapters Brody nearly cried and said ‘I don’t want the earth to blow up; I want to be a grown up someday.’

He then hoped down and unplugged several ‘vampires’ in his room (game chargers, night light, etc) hoping to save the earth for at least a few more years.

“Don’t forget to ask me about the inflatable colon and the three year olds.”

(you wanna know, you gotta ask!)

Spring has been occasionally rearing her head allowing us to go outside and play.  I was going to put the battery in my motorcycle but Brody besmirched my Jedi prowess…my honor needed to be defended in the front yard of honor!

So he and I ran around the front yard, smacking out plastic light sabers; occasionally smacking each other’s hands (light stings!). 

Mo’, not wanting to be excluded, determined that she was going to be Princess Amidalla and join us in the heat of battle by preparing the picnic.

In case you’re wondering, the good side of the force gets strawberries and the dark side prefers blueberries!

(no, this isn't me!)