Last Thursday, while Carrie was at work, Shane and I invited Daniel over to play. Our doorbell rang a few minutes later. Jessica and Daniel strode in! Michael came shortly thereafter.
Shane and Daniel played while the adults watched and talked. They played so well together the one black mark on the evening came as a shock: Shane bit Daniel.
I was very firm. I stuck Shane in his room, said "We don't bite," and left him in time-out to check on Daniel. Daniel's parents vetted him, but didn't see any bite marks (they wouldn't until the next bath).
Shane served his time-out. We talked before he came out and I made him apologize to Daniel. It was a little bit of a mystery then. I was worried that A) my son was biting and B) he just bit his best little friend.
More on that later. The rest of the night of the first bite was incident free.
Daniel's mom left and only the dads and boys remained. Shane and Daniel began running around again as if nothing had happened. Michael and I watched, talked, and occasionally threw a stuffed animal or assisted with sharing.
After a while, I pulled out my new board game, Ticket to Ride. To my pleasant surprise, Michael suggested we should play while the boys watched TV.
I took him up on the offer.
The boys plopped on the couch and the adults sat on the floor. Ironic, I know. I felt a little guilty about plugging the boys in, but they snuggled in and shared a blanket well.
It wasn't all TV time, though. My conscience was assuaged when Michael had to make a business call. I took the boys upstairs and mayhem erupted. Whatever energy they saved on the couch burst forth in little boys running, jumping, and climbing all over!
Daniel and Shane started leaping off the back of Shane's bed together.
I only felt comfortable taking a short video. It was hilarious, but the boys kept jumping further and further. I swear a caught a foot once or twice to keep someone from running and rocketing off the other end of the bed!
By the time Michael's work call was done, I was tired and ready for the boys to watch another episode of something. They plopped back down on the couch together. Our board game resumed!
The boys did not stay on the couch (being little boys). Eventually they became fascinated with our game and we had to wrangle, entertain, and maintain simultaneously.
We did finish and I hope we can do it again sometime. Eventually, I want Shane playing, too!
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