T-R-O-U-B-L-E

It's bad enough that Thomas misbehaves more than I would like. But what is worse is that he has also learned how to tell Parker to do or say things he is not supposed to do/say, too. Here's a perfect example of the state of things around here....

I had the boys' individual DVD players in the car today because I had taken Parker (and also Thomas) to the doctor to get his ears checked (they were fine). That's how we survive the doctor's office with two children (and by "survive" I mean "take home the least amount of germs"): double stroller and DVDs.

We had a really busy morning and the appointment wasn't until 11:45, so by the time we got out, it was well past lunchtime. I decided we had all earned a lunch out so we went out for pizza. When we went to get back in the car, Thomas had already sweet talked me into letting him finish watching his Cars movie on the way home. This meant I had to let Parker watch his zoo video. So I got Parker in his carseat and set up his DVD. He had pulled the tape off of the "open" button but I told him he better not open the player or I would take it away. Then I walked around the car to buckle Thomas into his seat.

As soon as I opened his door, I saw him leaned across the seat, pointing out to Parker which button to push to open it. I asked him what he was doing and what he was showing Parker and he blatantly lied and said, "I was just showing him this seat" and he pointed to the space between the two carseats. I told him he better not lie or his punishment would be worse and he said that yes, he was telling Parker how to open it. Needless to say, Thomas did not watch his movie on the way home. And since Parker started opening the player, he lost his too.

But the thing was (the sweet part of it all), Thomas was so upset and Parker kept saying, "Sorry Thomas! Sorry Thomas!" And Thomas said, "It's not your fault Parker, it was all my fault."

Well, at least he gets it. But my goodness, it's this kind of behavior that is about to drive me nutty! Boys will be boys!