What a boy wants

On Wednesdays this semester I pick the boys up at 3:15. Sarah isn't usually home until 5:30 or so, so I like to take the boys for an ice cream and some kind of activity. Last week after our frozen treat we went to Hermann Park. There is an outdoor theater there, with a big grassy hill where people can sit. Because we have two Houston boys, who have grown up looking at a completely flat landscape, this is fascinating. So we played on the hill. The boys like to run down the hill with me at the bottom, trying to run past without me catching them. I have to walk a fine line between seeming like I really am trying to catch them, but not actually doing so.

As is almost always the case just we have gotten somewhere, Jamie announced he needed the potty so off we went to take care of that. Public bathrooms with the two of them are always a bit of an adventure ("Connor! Don't touch ANYTHING!!"). Finally, we got some good hill running in. Jamie then declared he wanted to go to the dinosaur museum, across the street. Connor, sensing an opportunity, announced that he did not want to go, thus ensuring that I would displease one of them. In this case, I opted against going because it was getting late and the boys get very cranky if their blood sugar gets low. Apparently, however, this had already happened as Jamie had a meltdown. Even as I know I'm doing the right thing, of course, part of me always feels bad in not giving them what they want. But then later, having calmed down a bit, Jamie announced, in EXACTLY the same tone that he had said he wanted to go to the museum, that he wanted to go to Pluto and he wanted to go when he was still a kid. This reassures me, actually, by making it clear that no matter what there will always be something else he wants and he will never understand why he can't have it all.