Siblings

Yesterday when I picked Jack & Kate up from preschool/daycare they were both out playing on the playground. Usually the minute I walk within view of the playground one of the many children starts shouting JACK JACK JACK YOUR MOMMMMMMM IS HERE!! This pretty much makes it impossible for me to sneak up and see what they are doing.

But, yesterday, a large van obscured me from view until I was almost at the gate, and how happy I am for that van.

As I approached, I could see Jack on the far side of the playground struggling to pull a wagon. He had both hands on the handle and was walking backwards, clearly pulling a heavy load. I paused, waiting for the passengers of the wagon to make it into my view, hoping to identify them before being shouted out by the other kids. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Jack was pulling Kate, and his little girlfriend Lexie, in the wagon. How SWEET is that? Kate's presence in the wagon does explain the heavy load... Lexie is a mere slip of a girl.

Later that day as I was loading the kids back into the car after an errand, Jack sneezed. To my utter amazement, Kate said "bless you". To an outsider, this would have sounded like "bleshoe" but I recognized her words immediately. To top that, Jack said "Excuse me". Once I was done marveling at my children's phenomenal good manners, I lavished praise on both of them for being so polite. Jack smiled, looked up at me and said in the most serious tone, "that's right. You say excuse me when you sneeze. You do not say G*d d*mmit". Again, a long pause from me as I tried to follow this strange turn of events. I agreed with Jack, telling him he was right, that you should never say G*d d*mmit, sneeze or no sneeze. This ended the conversation, and I was left to puzzle the apparent connection these words and phrases had in Jack's head.