"You know what, Dad? Something weird happened. Cate said she was going to marry me. But I decided I am going to find another wife."That was Robert's take tonight on this weekend, with Cate Jensen, newly turned 5 ... oh yeah, and her parents and younger brother ... in town.
That's Cate in the middle, Robert on the left and Max on the right. And liberal use of Photoshop's red eye filter.
It wasn't an outstanding weekend if you're a Robert fan. He certainly had his moments -- he did great on our trip to the ballgame on Sunday, for example. But he was bossy, something which I think most kids are when they have the chance, and unbelievably rigid at times.
Robert often needs to be reminded that someone else's parents are there, and they are in charge.
Our family knows the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by heart. It's Colleen's favorite book. She reads it out loud to us because she knows the words by heart and can cue off the pictures. Robert knows the order of the story pretty much without the pictures. Cate is familiar with the book, but not fluent, and couldn't hang with Robert in that context.
So Robert, ahem, corrected her, and forcefully -- leaving Cate in tears.
Tonight they were over at our place playing in the backyard and Cate wasn't getting to ride a particular bike she wanted. Robert hurt her feelings by using a phrase I'm sure he doesn't understand -- that she was having a bad day, or a bad hair day. Well, naturally, Cate was insulted by that, and her mom, in good spirits, said, "I put those ponytails in myself this morning and they're just fine."
I had to take Robert aside, and used a phrase for the first time that I guess I'll probably be using many times in the coming years: "Let me give you some man advice."
In this instance, it was, "Never say anything bad about a girl's hair, or how they look."
He nodded the solemn nod of a kindergartener who doesn't quite understand.
Later that evening I was trying to revisit the subject of the weekend, and the bossiness, when he dropped the marriage line on me. I went on to tell him, "You never know, Robert, she could turn out to be pretty cute."
Robert just stared at me.
3 comments:
Forget all the chatter about ball parks. The important stuff is advice for Robert. Tell him that it reminds me of a visit we had with our friends the O'Deas in St. Paul. The kids were all playing somewhere in the house when Holly O'Dea came and told her mother that the visit was not going very well. I did not ask for the facts but I was pretty sure Patrick was not playing like she thought he should. They were both about 6 years old.
That certainly sounds like Patrick. Gets Along Well With Others: check-minus.
Cate didn't know what Robert was talking about when he made the "bad hair day" comment. In fact, I think she was so dazed from the day's activities that at that point, she had no idea he was even talking to/about her...!
And Cate finally met her match with Robert--whoo-wee! We've been waiting for another kid to finally stand his/her ground against her. It was a good learning experience for her, since she always seems to get her way when playing with others.
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