A Thou-Shalt-Not Original

February 4, 2012 by Rieshy
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Over the years my husband and I have vetoed or forbidden, certain ideas that crop up as predictably as developmental milestones with our children.  One after the other each child has had to have the rules of life gently explained.

Things like:

Thou may not spit at thy sibling no matter the provocation.

Thou may not pretendeth to drown at the pool.

Thou art not Hugh Jackman thus thou may not taketh all the table knives between fingers to role-playeth Wolverine.

By child numbered 6 and 7 we are mostly forbidding repeats. Until last night.  Last night was a new one.  Last night I had to write a rule I never even dreamed of.

My husband and I came home from a date and saw strange shadows in the little boy's window.  I went into their room ostensibly to kiss them goodnight but mostly to see what they had been up to.  Blankets were draped all over the room.  Okay, clubhouse building after bedtime.  Totally fine.

My 5 year old's eyes sparkled when I walked in the room.  "Mom look what we built!"

"Cool."

"Can I sleep in it?"

"The clubhouse?  Sure."

"No, I mean the hammock I built with ropes from the garage."  He climbed out onto the comforter I thought was merely draped between the tops of their two bunk beds and lay down.  He gently swung back and forth while on his back 5 feet off the ground. "See, it swings just like in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader."

Ropes from the garage.  My son was dangling between bunk beds on a hammock he (my 5 year old) had built with ropes from the garage.

In shock I left the room and got my husband.  Parenting joys such as these must be shared, plus I needed time to compose our newest family rule.

The building of hammocks is henceforth and for all time forbidden.


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2 comments:

Felicity said...

And you squash such innovation! ;-)

Unknown said...

gah!
strangely I have the same first three rules in my house....I can't wait to expand as the boys get older. Geesh.

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