My Nephews Visit

They just showed up out of the blue. Rung my phone and said we’re in your yard. Whose yard? Mine. I’m about to be sleep and not ready for any company. Just had a week of spring vacation. Getting ready to cruise through to Monday when we go back to work. So, I get up and allow them entrance getting the bedrooms ready. Wasn’t too much to do since no one is in them. Of course, we have to sit and visit before going to bed but I’m dog tired. These little dudes are military. When mom moves, they do too. They are so adept at it that they know how to get their luggage ready and be ready to roll. I must say it has to be hard on them and all the other military kids. No sense of permanence until mom or dad retires. They don’t always adjust to all the changes. They have to adapt to various living conditions. Make new friends. So, I think a lot of psychology is involved. We had some serious and funny conversations on their stay with me a few years ago. When they stayed with family friends prior to living with me those 5 months, they talked about how they were spanked for not making their bed. The younger one starts it of by saying he wasn’t going to do it, so the uncle waited until it was time for him to go to bed. Uncle came in with his belt and asked him to bend over. Wham! He says it lifted him off the floor. There was no more not making the bed. But there were more infractions. There was the bed wetting incident. Tried to hide it but the Aunt found it. Another spanking. They say they thought they had broke out of prison when they came to live with me. I had to get used getting them up for school each day. The older one caught the bus. We were so excited that first day so much so that we thought he had missed it. We went chasing after it to find that it was the wrong one. The little one has to go to pre k. His first day was tear jerking. He didn’t cry but his eyes got watery. Each day he got to stay in bed longer than his brother. Brother started being a problem some days. I think separation from mom and dad started to wear on him. He wasn’t getting his schoolwork and just wasn’t obeying. Some mornings as he waited for the bus, he was continuously grumbling. I never had kids, so this was new to me, and I had no clue as how to handle it. Mom talked to him from overseas. He would do ok for a while then have a relapse. There were a few spankings and take aways. They thought they could watch TV til late at night. That was a no no. Waited until I went to bed and turn the TV back on. I confess to letting them get away with stuff. We would go to movies or the park. The older one joined karate and was quite good at it. I think it was a good release for him. The little one tried but he was too distracted to learn to moves. About that time Despicable Me was in the movies. They got to the point where everything was despicable, or ‘gusting. Younger one would take an hour to eat talking all the while about whatever came to his head. So, he would tell me stories about things he had learned and when I asked him who told him this or that, he would say, I told myself. I tried them some turkey burgers for dinner one evening. They had just had some the week before at my sister’s. They looked at them and refused to eat them. I tried to tell them they were the same they had eaten before. Oh no, nana. We’re not eating those. Silly nana. They ate fries. It was heart wrenching to hear the younger one say that he missed mommy. Then he lay on my lap and watch TV. It was hard trying to keep them entertained. I was no spring chicken and didn’t have the energy I once had. We would have to make up games because I wasn’t into going to those gaming places, too much money. The older one had the same issues; he just didn’t exhibit them. He had a very hearty appetite. The younger one wanted me to pack his lunch each day, so he would put his order in the night before. Sometimes he would help. When mom finally came home, she was packing one night and he whispered to me, nana don’t let mommy fix my lunch. She always packs the same stuff. We got a kick out of that.