Can We Talk 2

Easter Is Coming

         Well, the Easter Bunny has already made deliveries to my house. Six kids will be getting candy-free baskets on Sunday. I'm sure they'll get lots of candy elsewhere. I'm making cupcakes with a Peep on top for desert, so they'll get some sugar after running around the yard.

         One of my great nieces has two younger brothers. On one hand, I sympathize with her. I had two younger brothers who ganged up against me when they were a little older than hers are now. But then I was a quiet child with a nurturing nature even in preschool. I watched her sitting on her two year old brother who was face down in the grass, while she tried to tie a scarf around his neck. My brother (Pop Pop) got the scarf away. I went back inside while she was still holding him down. I told my niece I just had a glimpse of baby Jack's future. That child is in for it, because I'm sure his brother will be a lot like the sister. So I can't empathize with the bully in her.

         We had toys that survived our childhood and the next generation, who destroyed a lot of Barbie dolls in their own home. But this newer generation is very destructive, not just with their own toys, but with other people's things. I have to be on constant vigilance with the computer, the closets, glass items, my mother's collectibles. They can't understand not everything is a toy.

         There's one more niece with her brood, and my other brother with his young son (he started later). All of the children are very bright, but they don't have the emotional maturity to advance in school yet. They're well-behaved at school, but definitely not with each other.

         When they're all my house, they're hard to control. When they come one family at a time, I can give them jobs to do or crafts or get them to help me cook something. They like that. They've all learned to be affectionate and polite when they want something. I obviously want them to visit or I wouldn't plan activities or have little surprises for them. I'm always glad to see them come, but I always feel relieved when they go home.