99% of the time, Boy and Girl get along beautifully….
Boy and Girl had a piano class last night that they had to attend together. I dropped them off and told them I’d run an errand or two and would pick them up when the class was over an hour later. I gave them a mini deck of playing cards (that I ALWAYS have in my purse – you never know when you’re going to meet a Midwesterner who’s dying to play some Euchre!) and told them they could play “War” or something, if I was running a minute or two late or if the class let out early. They were in a great mood and were being perfectly friendly to one another when I dropped them off. An hour later, however, they were sullen and grumpy and climbed into the car while shooting each other dirty looks. Apparently, Girl had been “annoying” (unspecified definition) and so when Girl tried to deal Boy some cards, he didn’t want to play and threw the cards back at her. Of course, I wasn’t there and didn’t hear what happened or what was said, so there was no way that I could settle it (and I really didn’t want to, anyway!), so I just frustratedly suggested that maybe they could remember that they were both human beings and they should treat each other accordingly. I told them that it sounded like they both were not as kind to one another as they could have been and that if either of them felt like they had something to apologize for, this would be a GREAT time to do that, so that we could get on with our pleasant evening. I followed up my “suggestion” with a promising description of building a fire, having a hot meal and cuddling on the sofa together while watching an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. Of course, none of these things would be able to happen if they weren’t getting along and couldn’t settle their argument….
So, this is what they come up with to say to each other:
Boy:
“I’m sorry that I got mad at you when you were being ANNOYING.”
Girl:
“I’m sorry that I got mad at you when you wouldn’t pick up the cards that you threw at me.”
Me:
banging head on steering wheel