I heard the cry come from the bedroom. I paused in my cooking and cocked my head to the side.
It sounded like Joseph.
Except he rarely cries. Which was something I hadn't realized until just that moment. Elizabeth cries when she gets upset or hurt or when someone steps on her bug. Joseph gets frustrated and upset but he usually yells rather than cry.
Concerned, I started for the bedroom. Joseph came out, tears streaming down his face while his hand pressed against his lower back.
"What happened?"
"She bit me."
"What?!" I turned to look at Elizabeth. "Did you bite your brother?"
She nodded, her eyes already welling with tears.
"Elizabeth! That's not a nice thing to do at all." I pulled up Joseph's shirt to get a good look. There, on the just to the side of his spine, a small welt with teeth marks was already bruising and pink.
"Oh honey! Elizabeth? Do you see how badly you hurt Joseph?" I was proud of my tone. I wasn't yelling. I wasn't mean. I was explaining to this child who had never bitten anyone that it hurt.
She burst into tears and ran to the time out corner.
"It's not her fault, Mama!" Joseph said, sniffling.
"What?"
"She's a zombie. You know what zombies do, right?" He didn't wait for me to answer. "You know what they eat, right?" Again, he hurried on. "They eat people and they have to bite hard because skin is tough."
From the corner, Elizabeth's cries escalated. "Mommy's mad at me. Mommy said I wasn't nice. I'm in time out forever."
I stood there, feeling like an ogre while Joseph lawyered up in defense of his sister and Elizabeth painted me into a corner.
"Elizabeth, you are not in time out. I didn't put you there. Tell Joseph you're sorry and don't bite again." I turned to Joseph. "Joseph, maybe it's a good idea to stop playing zombies. It's how people get hurt."
He nodded his head and went to help Elizabeth out of the corner. She wiped her eyes and gave him a hug, both of them looking at me like I was a monster.
"Come on, Elizabeth," Joseph said, walking to their bedroom. "We won't play zombies anymore. Let's play vampires."
Posts
1 hour ago
12 comments:
Oh dear. I am suddenly glad we play strange variations of pirates and princesses forever and ever around here.
I knew it would be a good post! ;) you know that my sons play "doggie" now, they yap and bite and LICK one another all the time. It's weird. LOL
I just love the thought process, the love between them in between the bites! I love how "VAMPIRES" sounds less menacing.
the boys are very afraid of the dememtors (isn't everyone) from Harry Potter..but they tell me...Dememtors suck your happiness out, vampires suck your blood...which is worse mommy?
I'm still not sure. ;)
Oh noooooo!
Yet this was hilarious.
Oh noooooo!
Yet this was hilarious.
Gak!
But also pretty damn funny.
Praying zombies are no longer the monster du jour when my son in old enough to be interested.
And gah, your two are SO cute.
Also, I'm ALWAYS the monster, except when there are booboos to kiss.
Love this story!! It's exactly how I feel when my daughters play and all of sudden one of them is hurt! I always end up being the "bad guy!" Love your humor! And I totally relate!
Today? It was werewolves. Thankfully, I hid all my silver.
Right? I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I was befuddled.
Totally. :)
The licking is just GROSS! And, btw, I think I read somewhere that the dementors were a creation by JK Rowlings while she was struggling with depression. I think vampires are far kinder.
What? The pirates aren't zombies and the princesses aren't vampires? Odd.
Post a Comment