What Families Do...

We had a busy day around here today. Started the day with all the kids sleeping in then getting up to get their weekend jobs done. Once our house was in pretty good order we all headed out to Mom and Dad's to help them with their house. Dad hurt his back and Mom is busy helping Her mother and sister who have been homebound since last summer... so they needed a bit of help to deal with things around their place. Pete was a little agitated this morning when he found out that we had plans all day and he wasn't going to get to go to a friend's house. Whining, he asked why we had to go and Pepper announced, "because that is what families do!!! Come on everybody... get in the car." By the time we rounded the first corner Pete was over it and everyone was on board with the plan.

It always makes me smile at how comfortable the kids are at Pepper's parents place. They just go in and know what they can touch, play with and do. They head right to the kitchen for potato chips and dip, open the fridge for soda and head toward the chess board and TV. At one point all 5 kids were laying on each others shoulders on the couch in the front room. I wish I had my camera. Mom had the kids do lots of shredding papers, moving trash out to the street, vacuuming, sorting through things in the basement and I worked on the bathroom. Afterward, Mom and Pepper headed out and picked up pizza. Everyone enjoyed the day.

Once we got home the kids got ready and headed up to bed. Twenty minutes later, Dill came down crying. Not "I'm thirsty" tears or "I don't want to go to bed" tears but real, something is wrong tears. He came into the room where Pepper and I were and could not talk he was crying so hard. Both Pepper and I were visually frisking the boy to see if there was blood or some visible injury. Finally, Dill said his snake was dead. He had touched it and it did not move. I went up to check for a pulse while Pepper held and comforted Dill. After Pete watered his own snake (since neither cage had any water!!) and I removed the corpse, we both went back downstairs to check on the still very upset Dill. Pete didn't say anything, he just waited for Dill. Dill finally calmed down and asked if Pete would sleep in the guest room with him because he did not want to sleep alone. Pete said he wanted to sleep in his own bed, but Dill could sleep with him in his bed. Dill and Pete went upstairs together and are curled up in Pete's twin bed.... because that is what families do.