Lively Weekend
The beginning of the stay on Thursday wasn’t too bad because we started off with only Hazel (11) and Mae (6). Then Ollie (3) came on Friday and everything was still somewhat manageable. Then the gauntlet was dropped when Hank (10) arrived on Saturday because he has a different viewpoint on maintaining peace and tranquility.
Mae seems to be the main target of Hank’s aggressiveness and he doesn’t let any tears she sheds slow him down. Their relationship is similar to a cheetah and an antelope in the African jungle. Mae does try to stand her ground but because she is lacking in size the results aren’t usually optimal.
Ollie started talking when he first got here and stopped only to sleep. I understood about 9% of what he was saying and relied on the nearest kid to be an interpreter. He has a fascination for small cars and balls and there was no shortage of either in every room of our house. Personally I would like him to focus more on balls because they don’t hurt when you step on them.
Patti took them all to a nearby park to ride their razor scooters yesterday which gave me a little time to reflect on how nice it was to only have a dog around full-time. The park was at the bottom of a steep hill so Patti asked if I would pick them all up a little later. When I got her text message saying they were ready to come back it was like getting a positive Covid-19 diagnosis.
The last day of their stay Patti asked each of them what they wanted for breakfast. They all had a different request so the following items were served: cinnamon rolls, oatmeal, cereal, bacon, sausage, toast, watermelon, and blueberries. Ollie wanted orange juice which is the only juice we didn’t have. It surprised me that Patti didn’t drop everything and head to the grocery store to get some.
After breakfast they watched a movie on TV which they all have seen approximately 5 times before. As a senior I understand the challenge of hearing but you would think that all of them had prematurely aged. The volume exceeded the decibel level created by a pilot breaking the sound barrier. Hank had the remote control so I asked him to turn it down. Those little bars at the bottom of the screen that show the volume level dropped by one bar so I guess I should have been more specific and said turn it down so that people living in other zip codes don’t hear it.
Although they are typical kids with somewhat childish behavior, they are very polite and thankful and love the time they spend here. Patti and I are grateful they are close and enjoy being with them, but when they leave I am going to suggest we self quarantine for a couple of months
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