Husband and I are sitting downstairs; I'm blog gardening, he's indulging in a spot of voyeurism on the London housing market. Boy #1 is out, and Boy #2 is upstairs beetling around with his lego. Suddenly, from upstairs:
Boy #2: "Ow!".
Silence. Husband and I are used to these outbursts, so we carry on with what we're doing.
Boy #2. "OW!"
Still, we say nothing. If he wants us, he knows where we are, right?
Boy #2: I said, OW!!"
Husband and I look at each other and start to crack up. (Any child who can say 'I said, OW!' is clearly not in mortal peril.)
Boy #2: "Did anyone hear me? I said, OW!!!"
Me, giving in: "Yes, we heard you. Are you OK?"
Boy #2 "Yes. I'm fine. I just wanted to check you heard me..."
Boy #2: "Ow!".
Silence. Husband and I are used to these outbursts, so we carry on with what we're doing.
Boy #2. "OW!"
Still, we say nothing. If he wants us, he knows where we are, right?
Boy #2: I said, OW!!"
Husband and I look at each other and start to crack up. (Any child who can say 'I said, OW!' is clearly not in mortal peril.)
Boy #2: "Did anyone hear me? I said, OW!!!"
Me, giving in: "Yes, we heard you. Are you OK?"
Boy #2 "Yes. I'm fine. I just wanted to check you heard me..."
I met a mother with three fully grown sons last week and asked if she had any tips. 'Yes', she answered: 'Unless there is blood, just ignore the fights or you will do nothing else all day long except work as a referee'. I think it was good advice...
ReplyDeleteBlog gardening. That's the 21st century version of armchair gardening, right?
ReplyDeleteWe have a house rule that it is only an emergency if there is blood... which worked up until the first broken bone
ReplyDeleteBut it does at least mean you can shout upstairs 'is it ok? is there blood?' and if not suggest they stop making a fuss...
LOVE the blog gardening. I don't do nearly enough of it... and love the OWs. Now I have teenagers, I'm tempted to do a few OWs myself. I suspect it'd be a long time before they came down to investigate ;)
ReplyDelete