So they do listen after all.

Today was a gorgeous day here in Texas. Where I live the high was in the low 80's. I mowed the yard this evening at 6:30 (instead of 8:30) and it was a breezy, cool 77 degrees. It was total heaven.

Since it was a beautiful day, the kids spent most of their time outside with friends. It's interesting watching Caroline play with her brother's friends. There aren't very many girls her age in the neighborhood, so she often tags along with her brother.

We've been working very hard with Jack to help "stand up" to his friends when things get a little heated between Caroline and this one little boy. The young man is Jack's age (7), but Caroline is the same height as him (she's about 2 1/2 years younger). We've noticed that when this little boy comes to play, he'll often have something not nice to say to Caroline. It's one of those things where Jack hasn't quite learned to recognize the difference between "playful trash talking" and "putting someone down". Like I said, we've been working very hard with him on being able to recognize when it's time to stand up to his friends. We've warned him that his friends may not want to play with him for a little bit or at all, but in the end, it's his sister who'll always be there for him.

Today, the kids went out to play. They played street football, chase, basketball and who knows what else. Just before I started cooking dinner, both the kids came inside and began to act like they were going to stay for awhile (not the usual, "Hey mom. Just came to get _______." When I asked if they were done playing, they both said they were and Caroline went to her room to lay down for a little bit. That's when Jack let me know why they'd come in early.

Apparently, this particular boy had gotten a little bossy with the group (his dad had left). Jack didn't think the boy was being fair and said something about it. The little boy said something else, and when Caroline stood up for her brother, insults flew. That's when Jack said he told the group of boys he'd had enough and his mom had said he needed to come home and get ready for dinner at that particular time (That's another thing we've tried to teach him: blame it on the parents. After all, we don't need them as friends and it helps the kids save face.). Apparently, that was the end of the play group as it was. One boy stayed with the Insult thrower, but everybody else went on their way.

I told Jack how proud I was of him, and then took that time to reiterate the fact that Caroline would always be on his side. I went and told her I was proud of her for standing up for her brother, and she blew it off like it was an understood thing she was supposed to do.

Wow, they do listen after all.