Boys will be boys

That's how the saying goes. I've always really tried to refute it though, thinking "let's not pigeon-hole him." He's a loving, caring, sweet little boy. He adores his sister and his kitty (Mr. Drake) and spends at least 50% of the day within 2 feet of his beloved blankie. He gives the best hugs and kisses.

But there's just something in him that's not in Erin. This mischievous devilishness. The one who MUST dump out every toy in the play area and then decide it's time to watch a movie. He runs around and gets covered in mud in ways I never thought possible. Every toy can be turned into either a gun or a sword for "powing" or "poking" (I'm working on this, but I'm not getting through in the slightest). These past few days he's been verging on out of control. I never, ever remember Erin being like this. She had her moments certainly, but...

Boys will be boys I guess.


Erin has 2 fish in her room - Marlin and Teddy Bear. They are female betas and we keep them on her dresser in a little 1-gallon tank. Jeffrey loves to watch the fish. Yesterday afternoon he was fighting his nap in a way he generally doesn't fight it. He was up every 5 minutes for this or that. Pooped his pants. Ran downstairs to get a truck for his bed. Finally he quieted down. I was trying to get some work done in the basement, so I assumed he'd gone to sleep. Boy oh boy was I wrong.

When I went up to get him so we could go pick Erin up from the bus stop, I noticed his door was open and Erin's door was shut. Noise was coming from Erin's room. I peeked in there and he was cowering on her bed.

"What are you doing in here?"
"Ummmm...nothing?" Clearly stated as a question - What was I doing?

Mommy now noticing Erin's dresser is a mess looks more closely. The fish tank is totally disheveled. Lid all askew. Water everywhere. Little cave for fish lying on the floor. Fish water the color of....well sewage. Most disturbing, a little fishnet from the bathtub on the floor near the now mangled tank.

"Really. Nothing?"
"I was getting Erin's fishies in the bathtub net. See?"

(deep breath)(deep breath)(don't beat child)(not working)"Oh My God...what did you do?????" screamed certainly much too loudly.

"Got Erin's fishies see?"

Upon closer inspection I discovered 2 small fish hovering near the bottom of the tank, miraculously still alive.

Luckily for the boy, we had to head out to the bus stop to get Erin immediately and I had time to cool down. He did spend the rest of the afternoon in his room though after a long talk about NOT playing with Erin's fish because they are living things.

Fast Forward about 26 hours. Tom and I are cooking dinner and chatting. Erin is playing in the living room listening to Aaron Copeland music. I figure Jeffrey's playing her game with her. It suddenly dawns on me that Erin's not complaining enough for Jeff to be playing with her.

"Erin...where's your brother?"
"He's upstairs drinking water."
"Oh dear......(bad words here that Erin's sure to repeat in class on Monday) JEFFREY ANDERSON!!!!!!!"

Young boy is discovered not in the bathroom but in Erin's room....tube of toothpaste in hand. That's right. Toothpaste. He's squirting toothpaste into the fish tank. And then trying to rescue Marlin and Teddy Bear with the bathtub fish net. He's soaked. Dresser is soaked. Fish are completely traumatized.

After 2 swift slaps to his bottom (say what you want but clearly the lesson from 26 hours ago hadn't sunk in a bit) he's sent back to his room. Mommy's able to rescue Marlin and Teddy Bear. Fish tank is emptied and cleaned of all pasty pollutant. Fish are currently living in a small Tupperware on the kitchen counter and tank has been removed from Erin's room to the kitchen where it's slightly more Jeffrey proof.

I have no idea what got into him. What inspired him to torture the fish (with toothpaste even). There will be more discussions on treatment of living animals. More time outs. More slaps to the bottom (sad to say).

Boys will be boys I guess.