It’s Not Unusual

I like this house best when it is laughing.

And I cannot seem to escape the fact that I live with seven funny people.

And I think you might laugh at this little tale as well.

One sunny afternoon in our very recent past we set out to battle the heat with two plastic pools.

Two plastic pools. (Six kids.)

But the kids were satisfied.

Two pools suited them just fine.

They declared the larger one a pool

and the second, much smaller, pool was labeled a hot tub.

(Their logic was sound.  Less water + sunnier location = hotter pool = hot tub.)

I watched them jump from hot tub to pool.  And back.  Again.  And.  Again.

Then I went inside to get bug spray.

When I returned

I saw Berg

standing at the top of the pool’s attached slide

boldly holding his Spiderman scooter.

Now, I know my boy.

I’ve been studying him for five years now.

I already knew his Evil Knievel scheme

was going to be to ride his wet scooter down a slippery slide into the pool.

And I didn’t predict the ending to be a positive one.

Given his track record and all.

(Remember, this is the boy whose two front teeth have already been prematurely ejected from his mouth in two separate, most violent, episodes.)

I knew that’s what he was going to do.

But Berg didn’t know I was watching him.

He prepared for take off.

“Hey son,” I spoke up.

“What are you doing there?”

Bergen moved in surprise.

He looked up.

His eyes met mine.

Oh.

“Uh, Mom,” he began.   “Can you go back inside?”