DON'T DO IT DAD!

It was a calm, low-key Saturday until about 10 this morning.  The boys were playing in the backyard doing their normal ritual... Digging an endless hole with our grilling utensils.  You may ask why don't I buy a shovel and buckets for them?? I have countless times over again, but they prefer spatulas and sterling silver tongs...*SIGH*.  After a few minutes I take a peak outside because the normal commotion has turned a little more intense.  The first grader was being a little rougher than he should to the middle child.  Now I don't normally mind the boys playing ruff, but when I can see gritted teeth and angry eyes, I know it's time to break up the party.  I call the first grader in to go to his room and ask the hubs to take the lead on this one. 

When one of the children are getting in trouble the others like to be spectators.  (I think they are just glad it isn't them getting indited).  We try to keep them away, but sometimes forget in the chaos of all that is going on. 

-- Before the hubs takes a trip to the room to have a talk with the first grader he had been in the kitchen cutting up veggies for breakfast omelets.  (this comes into play later on in the story)--

 After a few minutes the middle child comes to me screaming in hysterics that dad is going to cut first grader's toe off.  WHAT?!?!? ofcourse you heard wrong i explain to him, but he won't let it go.  So i get up and walk to the bedroom to see what's going on. 

As i walk in to investigate (ofcourse i know toe's aren't getting cut off) I see a calm conversation going on. I ask why middle is screaming bloody murder over getting a toe cut off and the hubs looks at me funny and then laughs.  In the craziness of going to talk to the first grader, he forgot to put the knife down, so as he was giving the "talking to" he just held the knife behind his back so it wouldn't scare him.  But for the middle child who was peaking in the room to see his brother get in trouble all he saw was a knife and heard dad saying, "It isn't nice to beat up on others, especially if they are smaller than you.  That would be like me picking on you.  Would you like it if i did that?"  So in this middle child's four year old mind naturally dad would then proceed to cut off his brother's toe to prove the point. 

While we tried to console middle child and explain we would never do something like that and talk to the first grader and remind him to be nice to his brothers, we tried to keep the laughter and smiles from our faces. 

"NO DAD, DON'T DO IT!" were the screams of the middle child this morning as he pleaded for mercy on his big brother's toe, even though big brother hadn't been very nice to him that morning.... it was a sweet moment!