Friends and family

Needless to say, I know I have been horrible about keeping this blog updated.  And I know that one day - sooner than I would like to admit - I'm going to really regret it.  Just the other day, I went back and read some of my old posts from when Violet was first born.  I'm so glad I captured all the adorable things that Jack said and did when we were all getting to know his baby sister.

Fast forward to the present.

Even though my children quarrel way more than I find personally tolerable, they both still love one another a whole lot.  This was underscored by two separate events this week.  Yesterday, we were hanging out with a friend of Jack's from school.  One thing that both my kids love to do is ride in other people's cars.  This friend's mom offered to let Jack ride in their car, but she unfortunately didn't have a seat for Violet.  Violet was at first sad that she couldn't ride with the boys, but her disappointment became increasingly focused on the fact that her brother opted not to ride in the car with her.

"Jack shouldn't have gone in their car!" she pouted.  "He is MY brother.  He should have stayed in the car with ME!"

I tried to explain to her that it isn't every day he gets to hang out with his friend outside of school, so of course he was excited to ride with them.  She was not to be appeased.

Today, we went swimming with some other friends from school.  The way it normally works with this particular family is that Jack plays with the older girl and Violet plays with the younger girl.  For some reason, this afternoon, all the kids wanted to play with Violet.  At one point right before we were about to leave, I guess it was proposed that Violet choose her favorite (a terrible idea).  She chose the younger girl, leaving the older girl with hurt feelings.  I didn't realize until after we got into the car that Jack was upset as well.  I asked him why he was unhappy.

"The same reason [the older girl] was."

"Because Violet didn't choose you?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes! It's not funny!" he protested as I smothered a disbelieving laugh.

"I know, Jack," I said consolingly, as I tried to rearrange my face into a more sympathetic expression.  "But, you know, we don't always get to play with these girls.  Of course Violet wanted to play with her friend."

"But I hardly got to play with her at all today!  She only played with me for like five minutes!"

"Well, you know," I said, "the good thing for you is that you live with her.  You can play with her as soon as we get home.

"Besides, you're her brother," I continued.  "She was just excited to see her friend, but of course she loves you best.  Right, Violet?"

I looked to Violet.  She scowled and shook her head no.

I'll remind her of that the next time Jack wants to ride in a friend's car without her.