Frenemies

When I found out I was having a fourth boy, I hoped so much that he and Andrew would be friends. Max and Ben had each other, so Andrew could now have a buddy in James.

They fight a lot. Like a lot lot.  But they can't live without each other.

One night, when they were having a top of the bunk bed punch out session, I took some bedding and set it up in the laundry room to move one of them in there to sleep that night. I didn't care which one. 

They both howled and wept: "We can't sleep unless we are here TOGETHER!"  And they settled down. 

We haven't had a play date with some friends ever since they had an all out brawl at that other house. That was bad. But then other times they are so sweet.

Andrew reads to James at night. James asked for a stapler so that he could staple papers together to make something for Andrew. They pat each other on the back or do a hug when JB drops them off at school. Then when I pick them up, I often see them hug or pat each other when they meet again (but  then they often tussle in the car on the way home).

Today on the way home, Andrew pulled a dinosaur out of his backpack and told James he had saved up his classroom bucks to get it for him.

James said, "Oh, thank you! How can I ever repay you?"

Andrew replied, "It's OK.  Kindness repays itself."

Sports and activities

 

Ben had a whole basketball season with his Superleague team, and I didn't get to go to a single game. I'm really ready for Covid to be over. They limited crowds. Though many games were late, so I couldn't have gone anyway.

JB has been doing a lot of driving and coaching every week for these hard-working young men. And on non-practice days, Ben goes to the church meetinghouse to play basketball. 

Max meanwhile is all about tennis. This mild winter has been great for him to be able to play often. And during snowy days he's in our laundry room doing drills.

Here's a photo the coach's son took of him for his photography class.

James and Andrew however have not been able to do any kind of activity. At their age (10 and 7), Max and Ben were heavily involved in sports. These two little boys aren't as interested, but I still need to find something for them to stay active. I hope things open again soon. Andrew wants to do Kung Fu again.  They did get a lot of wiggles at the park recently.

Meanwhile Millie begs for dance ballet classes again. "I'll wear a mask!" she tells me. She had the cutest teacher before everything shut down. She wears her outfits and ballet shoes a lot.