REALLY??? Poor baby has a phobia about bugs! (orphanage experience that causes her to have actual tremors when she relives it). Of all weeks, this was not the week to have a bug thrown on her! She had a spider bite earlier this week that sent her home from school. The doctor painfully drained it and then put her on antibiotics for a week. I know the little boy was just being a "typical boy". I have 3 grown sons that were just like that, so I don't blame him. It's just unfortunate. Emma squirmed and fidgeted for over half an hour before calming down. She kept saying that bugs were crawling all over her and swatting at her face. I just held her through her nightmare and kept reassuring her that there were no bugs on her. At one point, she said she just wanted to hit him with a brick. Yikes! That was kind of scary, but I think she was just expressing the depth of anger/fear she felt. I said, "That must have been super dooper scary if you would feel that angry." She said, "Yeah!" Then I said, "Boys are so silly. They love bugs and think that's funny, but they don't know how scary that is for you. They just love to see girl's squeal. I bet if he knew how angry and scared it would make you feel inside, he wouldn't have done it." She just continued with different scenarios of how she wanted to torture the kid. Clearly not done with the anger phase... I let her get it all out. Then I said, "Do you think that would make it all better if you hurt him?" She was quiet, and then said, "No, but I really hate that he did that!" I said, "Maybe we could help him understand..." Then Ellie walked in the door with some comic relief. She said, "Emma, I told the boy that what he did was not a good thing to do to my sister. I said, some of us have pathological fears. I have a pathological fear of thunder storms and my sister has a pathological fear of bugs." The little boy said, "I have a pathological fear of American Girl Dolls!" Then we all started laughing. Much stress was relieved and we were able to calm down. Then there was a knock at the door. It was the little boy. With all the courage he had, he announced, "Emma, I have something to tell you, I'm sorry I threw a bug at you." She smiled and said, "That's okay." Then he started to run back home, but I said, "Wait, ya wanna see something cool?" I knew it would be awkward if they didn't start playing right away. I asked Emma if she'd like to show him the spooky Halloween decorations we put up yesterday. Ellie and Emma gave him the tour.
It's 7:30pm and Ellie, Emma, and the 3 little boys across the street are are still outside playing. I know, I know... I should call them in for dinner, but it's a Friday night, and the weather is gorgeous, and Keith's working late. Besides, I think they learned some valuable lessons today. I've been watching them all day... They have been creatively playing across the street with everything from sidewalk chalk, to sticks, to big moving boxes... they are our new neighbors and still unpacking. One of the boys was carrying around a little lizard all day until the poor little guy accidently got smashed. They buried him in (my neighbor's) front yard and had a funeral. They came over to pick some of the mums from the pots I set out yesterday, to put on the grave. I heard the girls tell them, "We have to ask first." I have a feeling the girls are in for some rich experiences with our new neighbors. The boys remind me of our 3 boys when they were that age. They are 3 little stair steps, each 2 years apart, and all boy!!! I love it!
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