Jeff was out of town last night so I was alone on kid duty. As I was putting the kids pajama's on and trying to get everyone all settled down, big brother, Ryan, came in to say good-night. Being a teen, he has little appreciation of the need for children to have quiet right before bed. He came in waving Chloe's blankie, rolled it up and began whapping the child nearest him. Screams came from all directions as they scattered in horror. Chloe tried desperately to get her blankie back, to no avail. Molly and SaraGrace distracted him while Jillian escaped to gather more ammunition. Soon they had all retrieved their blankies and returned--trying unsuccessfully to thwap Ryan with them. He grabbed each one as it came and they were left standing there--foiled. He then sat on the pile of blankets, and said he was going to pass gas on them--which brought him the rewarding shrieks he had been hoping for. Not to be outdone, the girls left the room, coming back with an assortment of pillows, sleeping bags, blankets, etc., and began pelting him. He was eventually overwhelmed by the sheer volume of fabric. He slid to the floor and they jumped on him, yelling in triumphant victory. He played along for quite awhile, growling and grabbing their feet, they all the while giggling and laughing hysterically.
It reminded me of when I was a child. I have an eccentric Uncle Dave who used to visit. He would arrive in his VW Bug, which he had painted to resemble an egg (over easy). I once had to endure a ride to school with him. It brought humiliation not to be believed, to arrive at school in an car decorated like an egg.
Each time Uncle Dave came, we would run to greet him begging, 'Please play Ugly Ogre with us!! Please..Please." He would comply and my brother and I would dash off to psuedo hiding places so that he could find us quickly. When found, we would be carried to our dark basement, where Uncle Dave would put us on our backs on top of the washing machine. He would grab one of my dad's high top basketball shoes and cover our nose and mouth with them. He kept them there until we were forced to breathe in the reeking stench. We BEGGED him to play this with us!!
The little kids had so much fun being tortured by Ryan tonight. It just cracked me up to watch them--and to watch how each kid interacted. They all had a blast. I noticed in all the pictures that Jordan was off to the side, having more fun watching the show than participating in it.
