Nothing like having a bunch of preteen boys spend the night at your house to realize that I really like getting a full eight hours of sleep. Also, when you're getting ready to take them to the movies and you smell cologne....run!
I walked down the hallway of our house and smelled something. Now, we don't use a lot of perfume in our house. Way too many years of burnout on the nose from my stepmother's use of some of the most hideous perfumes known to mankind. So, when I sniffed something other than food or candles in my house I wondered what was up. As I was walking, I heard a few laughs and comments about "chicks" and decided to investigate.
Upon my arrival in my son's room with his three friends, most of whom I've known since they were 5, I found them basked in the glow of one of them using cologne and talking about girls. Ugggh! They're 11!!! I stopped in my tracks and asked casually, "Are you guys looking for chicks while we're at the movies?" First, I got the stare (how dare I ask) and then I got the response from all of them. A very matter of fact, "Yeah!" hit my ears. After regaining consciousness and checking for bleeding in my ears, I regained my composure and blew the situation off. The cologne could not be stopped and was slowly seeping through my house. Before the whole bottle of cologne was used and I was needing oxygen, I commented to the bottles owner that I was very sensitive and allergic to the stuff. Personal note: My mom used the same trick on one of my boyfriends since, according to her, he bathed in Polo.
Thirty minutes later we get to the parking lot of the movie theatre. I'm prepared for these four boys to sauntering in the place with some swagger. Oh, but they're still 11...they were skipping up to the front door of the place. I stood silently and just shook my head. They are still boys after all.
After the movie, I talked with a friend of mine and there was no mention of girls there. Oh boy, were there girls there! Friday night is movie night in our suburban area and wow there were a lot of girls there. I try to be the "whatever" mom, but I'm not ready for the girl thing.
We headed for home and hoped the house had aired itself out while we were gone. It did! I will be giving my furnace a hug later on today. But now that the boys were in a house where no females near their age were present, it was time to act like boys again. Stupid jokes, fart noises, baby voices...you name it we had it. We had so much of it that no one wanted to go to sleep.
Trying to make boys fall asleep when they don't want to is an interesting needle to thread. They want to talk and giggle just like girls. They don't want to be bothered by a younger sibling. The younger sibling is five and was getting his feelings hurt. Boys don't care when the sibling cries for not being included and especially when the younger sibling comes out with a Nerf gun and tells them to be quiet or he'll shoot. That's when we, my tired spouse and I, stepped in.
We want our sleep. We like our sleep. We make fun of people now who have ten year olds and then get pregnant because they're not going to get any sleep. We had already had a day of drama from work, school, volunteer organizations, preschool, and family. But now we had to make four eleven-year-old boys fall asleep in our living room. Good luck. We let them watch a movie for an hour. I finally turned it off and told them good night when I found my husband snoring in my ear. I heard them giggle and joke and finally nothing. Just peace and quiet....until each of them had to go to the bathroom off and on all night.
Yes, I'm too old for this.
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