Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Innocence of Youth

While visiting with the family in PA my brother Kevin and his wife Felicia invited us to their house for dinner. They live about an hour away from my parent’s house, which in most of my family’s eye's, is like living in Florida.

Kevin and Felicia have three kids. K jr. is about 10 and two girls, J and A are 7 and 5 give or take a year or two. Lauren and I were looking forward to hanging out and relaxing while Max played with the girls. The girls were very excited to have Max around so they could show him all of their cool stuff. They are both really good with their younger cousins and Lauren and I figured they would all play nicely.

When we arrived, the girls took Max out to their trampoline, which Max called a bed, in their backyard. They jumped for about 30 minutes when a neighborhood girl, Hannah, showed up and they all went inside. All the kids went up stairs to play with their toys.

Lauren and Felicia and I chatted in the kitchen at the base of the steps and we could hear the kids carrying on. The girls were fawning all over Max and he was loving every minute of it. He was happy to get the attention.

“Max look at this.” J said.

“Max, do want to play with the kitchen?” A said.

"See if he will like this." J said.

This went on for about 5 minutes when Hannah, the neighbor, said, “Let’s put Max in the shopping cart and push him down the steps.”

Lauren stopped in mid-sentence and looked at me, her mouth open.

“Did I just hear them say what I think they said?” I asked Lauren.

“Yes.” She replied.

I turned to Felicia ready to ask her about it when she said to me, “They wouldn’t.” She then paused and said, “At least I think they wouldn’t.”

I decided to go to the top of the steps to look on the kids. Sure enough, Maxfield was trying to climb into the kiddy-shopping cart as the girls looked on. I told the girls that I did not think their plan was a good idea and they went off to play with something else. Now I really do not think that they would have actually pushed him down the steps, but there was enough doubt in my mind that made me check on them and I am glad I did.

I know this will not be the first time that Max will do something stupid for pretty girls.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I KNOW J and A would never have done that. On the other hand H is a stranger. She may be capable of anything. Good thing you were within earshot! When they were young, my sister B talked sister T into roller skating in a wagon, then B pulled the wagon, and T fell out and broke her arm. Kids will be kids. There is no Fear Factor with them. I do believe H would have tried it. Thank goodness Max is safe now, and uninjured.

sc@vp said...

We (my brother and I) used to make our younger sister lick our feet ...

Anything, ANYthing is possible.

Anonymous said...

i am seriously pretty positive that your mom is a saint. this simple story proves that her sainthood is secure, as shopping carts down stairs are nothing compared to all you crazy Catholic boys. ::sigh:: love her!

Kate Giovinco Photography said...

Yea I am sure it wont be the first time!

That Hannah Sounds like trouble! TROUBLE!

The Q said...

I'm thinking Max was in for a ride....not saying WHO would have sent him off, but yah.

I'm sure glad you guys stopped it from happening!

eclectic said...

Yikes! The stairs?? Eeeep! Yay for the sixth sense that gets our attention sometimes, eh?

Judypatooote said...

It may be the first time, but it certainly won't be the last....He will turn into a man....hehe....

That is a scary thought, him flying down the stairs stuck in a cart.....your so right the Innocence of Youth......

Teri said...

like father like son!

Anonymous said...

Sadly this is not a boy thing. I tied my younger sister, with a skipping rope, to the back of my bike, while she was on roller skates.
Needless to say it did not end well.
There isn't enough room here to list the things my teenage son has done that have made me question his intelligence.
Kids will be kids.

Sharpie said...

I maintain that good kids do dumb things. That's why they are fearless and I can't ride the Merri-go-round.....

Kami said...

OMG! Poor Max. Trying to impress the girls...

ieatcrayonz said...

There's something missing. Aha! How about ending it with "That's my boy!"

You know you want to.

Anonymous said...

Nice save on the potential catastrophe, Bill! Thank God you saved him in time. However, I think it won't be long before pretty girls are all doing crazy things to impress Max. The kid's a looker!

Unknown said...

Yeah the pretty girls will definately be trying to get Max's attention long before he has any interest.

Anonymous said...

Didn't Reds' older brother flip you over the handle bars?

Anonymous said...

I do believe you saved the day!

Anonymous said...

Head over wheels?

Sorry, that's the best I've got.

kittenpie said...

Not if the apple hasn't fallen really far from the tree... But you know we love anyhow, right?