Our basement has one of those tent contraptions that have 2 little tents and a tunnel in between them.  Something I would have loved as a child, but of course we had a whole farm as our playground which our kids would probably prefer. 

Last weekend Anya discovered this thrilling toy and Kai discovered that his sister can be fun to play with.  She saw Kai go in the tent and quickly crawled after him.  Then they proceeded to crawl through the tunnel after each other, squealing in delight, and only occassionally running over each other.

To be so innocent again, where a simple game brings out such happy sounds.  A child’s laugh in delight can make the dimmest of days bright, especially when they are your children.

…And then

There are days like yesterday.  Brian went out of town for work on Wednesday morning, so it was just the kids and I last night.  Kai again decided that he did not want to eat — the chocolate milk and piece of cheese were apparently sustenance enough.  This is a little better than just “air”, but still I would like him to fill that belly a little.  I cut up one measly ravioli and told him he had to eat that or “No going outside”. 

Simple enough — shouldn’t be a problem, right?

This child LOVES to go outside, and moreso now that he has his little tricycle.  I thought for sure that he could be conned into eating.  No way, sir!  So, then I had to stick to my guns.  No going outside. 

I honestly think it was more painful for me, since the rest of the night was Kai throwing one fit after another.  By the end of the night after I got him and his sister in bed (who was throwing her own fits because of her brother), I was really, really…really ready for a beer.  That Harp went down pretty darn good.