Ivan the terrible
Have had my family visiting for the past two days (and spent the two days before that getting ready for them to visit). Not my whole family - just 4 this time - my mom, dad,niece and nephew. Aged 4 and 6 respectively.
I love it when my mom and dad come to visit. But this is the first time my niece and nephew have visited - in fact, its the first time we've ever had children in our house period. Makes for a very different viewpoint children do. All the sudden things that have always been ok for my honey and I become hazardous materials or obstacle courses when bearing children in mind.
I did good remembering at the last minute to hide all of our blades and weapons away...until my honey spoiled it by "bragging" to my nephew that he had real swords. But in the end it turned out okay because now my nephew can brag in turn that he's seen a real sword (albeit a sheathed one, with our hands around his to make sure he didn't damage anyone around him - you have to know my nephew to understand the need for precaution).
The one thing I couldn't anticipate is my nephew's fear of cats. They had cats themselves until recently, he's never been afraid of them before. So he walks into my house, at first accepting the cat, and the all of the sudden goes ballistic that the cat is in the same room with him - I'm watching this the whole time. The cat doesn't even get within 10 feet of him - and I have to spend two days with a hysterical boy who says the cat looked at him funny. Lovely.
But they can be a joy too - we went to the zoo today, they actually behaved (extremely unusual for two of the highest strung children most people have ever seen). Later we took them down to the river and in the evening to our lake to feed the ducks. It was so wonderful and beautiful to see things with them - and even better when they hugged me good night with such smiles and laughter. I'll miss them when they leave tomorrow to go back home. Ivan may have been a curse to many, but it was a blessing to this one, for allowing me this chance to spend time with them.
I love it when my mom and dad come to visit. But this is the first time my niece and nephew have visited - in fact, its the first time we've ever had children in our house period. Makes for a very different viewpoint children do. All the sudden things that have always been ok for my honey and I become hazardous materials or obstacle courses when bearing children in mind.
I did good remembering at the last minute to hide all of our blades and weapons away...until my honey spoiled it by "bragging" to my nephew that he had real swords. But in the end it turned out okay because now my nephew can brag in turn that he's seen a real sword (albeit a sheathed one, with our hands around his to make sure he didn't damage anyone around him - you have to know my nephew to understand the need for precaution).
The one thing I couldn't anticipate is my nephew's fear of cats. They had cats themselves until recently, he's never been afraid of them before. So he walks into my house, at first accepting the cat, and the all of the sudden goes ballistic that the cat is in the same room with him - I'm watching this the whole time. The cat doesn't even get within 10 feet of him - and I have to spend two days with a hysterical boy who says the cat looked at him funny. Lovely.
But they can be a joy too - we went to the zoo today, they actually behaved (extremely unusual for two of the highest strung children most people have ever seen). Later we took them down to the river and in the evening to our lake to feed the ducks. It was so wonderful and beautiful to see things with them - and even better when they hugged me good night with such smiles and laughter. I'll miss them when they leave tomorrow to go back home. Ivan may have been a curse to many, but it was a blessing to this one, for allowing me this chance to spend time with them.