"Eddie made me spill my cereal"

 

The first thing I noticed when I picked up the boys at school today was Eddie’s jacket lying in the middle of the hallway floor next to the gym, looking as though it had been thoroughly stomped on by a herd of elephants with muddy feet. (hooves?) Even the inside of his sleeves were dirty. I’ve previously talked to Eddie about this habit of his shedding his coat instead of hanging it on his designated hook after outdoor play. Of course, Eddie isn’t the only child guilty of this sin. I’m sure it’s a contest among the kids to see who can move more quickly to the next area of activity. This evening I thought I’d take a more authoritative approach. 

“Eddie, from now on, if I see your jacked on the floor, do you know what that means?” 

He offers no response, gives me no eye contact. 

“It I find your jacket on the floor, it means no TV.” 

Might as well hit him where it hurts. 

Coincidentally, Andy showed me the dirt on his jacket as we left the school. 

“Brent pushed me at recess.” 

Of course, I imagined that this bit of roughhouse was totally unprovoked. Yeah, right! Like this morning when Andy interrupted me as I was washing a few dishes. 

“Eddie make me spill my cereal.” 

I did an about-face and saw a puddle of milk dotted with a couple of dozen Sugar Pops on the floor. 

“Eddie made me spill my milk?” I said mockingly.  “That tells me a lot, Andy. What actually happened? Did Eddie somehow tip the bowl over?”

“No.” 

“Did the bowl just start doing jumping jacks and dump some of its contents?”

“Noooo.” 

At this point, I told Andy to clean up his mess, and Eddie to brush his teeth since he had eaten breakfast fifteen minutes earlier. And put on his shoes. 

Speaking of Eddie’s shoes, he’s able to tie them now, although he definitely needs more practice to get the laces tighter against the shoe. I don’t know how it happens, but even when I tie his shoes in the tightest double-knot possible, one of both of his laces are flopping around ten minutes later.