New kid on the block
Jun. 25th, 2007 03:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
averygoodun42So, the earlier post was perhaps an overreaction, but for once it had nothing to do with my garden. The kids have been pretty good about that since the last earfull they got.
No... This is a tale about two new kids, one of whom has lived here longer than we have but only started hanging out around our cul-de-sac this spring. The other kid moved in only a month or so ago.
C is the one who's lived in the neighborhood a while. He's the youngest of three. He's probably about 10, although he is most definitely immature for his age. Geoff and I have both started thinking that there might actually be something wrong with him developmentally. Nice enough kid, but clueless. (Unlike B, his smaller, charming (although slightly oily), Slytherin brother whom I'm sure is always plotting out something or other.)
Then there's A. He's the new kid. From what his older brother says, A is 6. I would have a hell of a lot more patience for A if I didn't know that. A is just about Babe's size (a teensy bit bigger) and he speaks and acts like a 4-year-old. Unfortunately, he gets the supervision of a 6-year-old.
A doesn't hold a thought longer than is necessary. A needs to be told things again and again and again.
C holds a thought for longer, but is easily persuadable.
A + C = Cranky me.
So, Babe was given one of those Flinstone's plastic cars for his last birthday. You know, the orange and yellow cartoonish things that kids move with their feet? The neighborhood kids (all of whom are older than Babe) love this thing. They've taken to riding around on it.
We finally put our foot down and said that if you couldn't fit inside it, you couldn't play with it. However, that didn't stop them from pushing the kids who will fit in it around. Fast.
I've told them more than a couple of times that they have to be careful. If Babe's in there, they HAVE to go slow and be careful.
So, today Babe discovered the neighbor Baby's new car (Baby is not included with "the kids" because she is a) a baby, b) rarely out and c) never included in the activities unless she's being oohed and aahed over by the neighborhood girls.) It's just his size, and pink (he loves the color, damn the Universe and its irony!). So he was sitting in it but not really doing anything.
I brought out his car to try and coax him into as he didn't have overt permission to use Baby's car. He wasn't going for it. I shrugged and left him to it, since he wasn't hurting Baby's car at all; he wasn't even moving it.
I went inside to get some food for myself, keeping an eye on them as much as physically possible. I will leave Babe with some of the other kids and know that I only have to check up on him every few minutes. C and A are not those kids. I got my food and sat at the (clear) storm door eating and watching the goings-on.
It seemed that when I went inside, it was an invitation for C and A to play with Babe's car. A is the right size, so I have no objection to him playing in it. I do have an objection to any kid of any size being pushed around in a reckless manner. Which C promptly started to do. At A's behest, I'm sure.
I yelled at them to slow down, be careful, especially when they got a bit careless around the curbs and almost tipped over. It seemed I took all the fun out of it, so they gave up on playing with the car. So, needing something to do, they turned to Babe.
I have no idea (they are only kids they are only kids they are only kids they are only kids) why they thought that if I didn't want them racing around recklessly, I would be okay with them pushing Babe around carelessly.
To be fair, they made sure Babe was buckled into Baby's car (he doesn't need buckling into his car since it has the protection of a roof. /scoff). Then A started pushing him down the sidewalk, nice and slowly. I was okay with that. THen... Perhaps it was that the slight slope into the driveway pushed him off course and A was too small and too weak to be able to adjust the course, or maybe he just wasn't paying attention (much, much more likely), but anyway, when the sidewalk started going up again, Babe and the car were not all the way on the sidewalk, meaning he tipped over onto the street.
Not knowing Babe was buckled in, I slowly walked over to see to him, scowling at A while I did. When Babe started crying, because he couldn't get up, and I saw what the situation really was, I was a bit miffed, but, you know, kids are kids. Then A said defensively to Babe's crying, "He only tipped over."
Combined with everything else A has done over our short acquaintanceship, something snapped. I didn't do more than make strangling motions and angry faces at him (from more than an arm's lenth distance, mind you), I didn't even yell, but I did ask him to not talk to me right then before walking off and replacing the car in neighbor's walkway.
A is just... A is the reason I don't like kids. If his older brother were a clueless sort, I would say, "Oh, I guess the whole family is a bit dim," and make allowances. I may not like dealing with stupid people, but they do exist and I'm not going to harsh on them for something they can't help. But A's older brother is not dim. Not in the slightest. From what I've seen of the parents, they're not dim either.
(I feel like I've written this before. Hm. Probably about K, who's moving; of course there has to be a replacement.)
I suppose it's possible A has developmental issues, but I'm pretty sure he's just spoiled. (Most of the kids in our lowish-income, working-class neighborhood are, which I find ironic.) And I will make allowances for him being the new kid. He's still learning the turf and figuring out where he stands.
I know this. This is why I will not kill him for being an annoying little... Besides which, 6 is still young. T across the street was pretty clueless and annoying last year when she was six, as well. She's much better now. She's actually one of the kids I trust Babe around (for very short stretches).
And at least he doesn't exibit too many tendencies toward brathood. He's not a crier, thank god (I don't think the neighborhood can take more than one, and T is definitely one), he's not a sissy (like the other A... although paired up, those two are horrible together! Older A becomes a bully, while new A eggs him on.). He's just thoughtless.
Of course, in my books that's a pretty high crime. ;-)
But, they are all just kids. They will grow and mature and become decent adults. Most people are nice, and they will grow out of their clueless tendencies. They will. I did (no laughing, please; it's not nice), so they will, too.
And I will have patience. I will. I am an adult. I am. Really.
I will not kill the little shits. I won't.
*breathes*
Okay, better now.
No... This is a tale about two new kids, one of whom has lived here longer than we have but only started hanging out around our cul-de-sac this spring. The other kid moved in only a month or so ago.
C is the one who's lived in the neighborhood a while. He's the youngest of three. He's probably about 10, although he is most definitely immature for his age. Geoff and I have both started thinking that there might actually be something wrong with him developmentally. Nice enough kid, but clueless. (Unlike B, his smaller, charming (although slightly oily), Slytherin brother whom I'm sure is always plotting out something or other.)
Then there's A. He's the new kid. From what his older brother says, A is 6. I would have a hell of a lot more patience for A if I didn't know that. A is just about Babe's size (a teensy bit bigger) and he speaks and acts like a 4-year-old. Unfortunately, he gets the supervision of a 6-year-old.
A doesn't hold a thought longer than is necessary. A needs to be told things again and again and again.
C holds a thought for longer, but is easily persuadable.
A + C = Cranky me.
So, Babe was given one of those Flinstone's plastic cars for his last birthday. You know, the orange and yellow cartoonish things that kids move with their feet? The neighborhood kids (all of whom are older than Babe) love this thing. They've taken to riding around on it.
We finally put our foot down and said that if you couldn't fit inside it, you couldn't play with it. However, that didn't stop them from pushing the kids who will fit in it around. Fast.
I've told them more than a couple of times that they have to be careful. If Babe's in there, they HAVE to go slow and be careful.
So, today Babe discovered the neighbor Baby's new car (Baby is not included with "the kids" because she is a) a baby, b) rarely out and c) never included in the activities unless she's being oohed and aahed over by the neighborhood girls.) It's just his size, and pink (he loves the color, damn the Universe and its irony!). So he was sitting in it but not really doing anything.
I brought out his car to try and coax him into as he didn't have overt permission to use Baby's car. He wasn't going for it. I shrugged and left him to it, since he wasn't hurting Baby's car at all; he wasn't even moving it.
I went inside to get some food for myself, keeping an eye on them as much as physically possible. I will leave Babe with some of the other kids and know that I only have to check up on him every few minutes. C and A are not those kids. I got my food and sat at the (clear) storm door eating and watching the goings-on.
It seemed that when I went inside, it was an invitation for C and A to play with Babe's car. A is the right size, so I have no objection to him playing in it. I do have an objection to any kid of any size being pushed around in a reckless manner. Which C promptly started to do. At A's behest, I'm sure.
I yelled at them to slow down, be careful, especially when they got a bit careless around the curbs and almost tipped over. It seemed I took all the fun out of it, so they gave up on playing with the car. So, needing something to do, they turned to Babe.
I have no idea (they are only kids they are only kids they are only kids they are only kids) why they thought that if I didn't want them racing around recklessly, I would be okay with them pushing Babe around carelessly.
To be fair, they made sure Babe was buckled into Baby's car (he doesn't need buckling into his car since it has the protection of a roof. /scoff). Then A started pushing him down the sidewalk, nice and slowly. I was okay with that. THen... Perhaps it was that the slight slope into the driveway pushed him off course and A was too small and too weak to be able to adjust the course, or maybe he just wasn't paying attention (much, much more likely), but anyway, when the sidewalk started going up again, Babe and the car were not all the way on the sidewalk, meaning he tipped over onto the street.
Not knowing Babe was buckled in, I slowly walked over to see to him, scowling at A while I did. When Babe started crying, because he couldn't get up, and I saw what the situation really was, I was a bit miffed, but, you know, kids are kids. Then A said defensively to Babe's crying, "He only tipped over."
Combined with everything else A has done over our short acquaintanceship, something snapped. I didn't do more than make strangling motions and angry faces at him (from more than an arm's lenth distance, mind you), I didn't even yell, but I did ask him to not talk to me right then before walking off and replacing the car in neighbor's walkway.
A is just... A is the reason I don't like kids. If his older brother were a clueless sort, I would say, "Oh, I guess the whole family is a bit dim," and make allowances. I may not like dealing with stupid people, but they do exist and I'm not going to harsh on them for something they can't help. But A's older brother is not dim. Not in the slightest. From what I've seen of the parents, they're not dim either.
(I feel like I've written this before. Hm. Probably about K, who's moving; of course there has to be a replacement.)
I suppose it's possible A has developmental issues, but I'm pretty sure he's just spoiled. (Most of the kids in our lowish-income, working-class neighborhood are, which I find ironic.) And I will make allowances for him being the new kid. He's still learning the turf and figuring out where he stands.
I know this. This is why I will not kill him for being an annoying little... Besides which, 6 is still young. T across the street was pretty clueless and annoying last year when she was six, as well. She's much better now. She's actually one of the kids I trust Babe around (for very short stretches).
And at least he doesn't exibit too many tendencies toward brathood. He's not a crier, thank god (I don't think the neighborhood can take more than one, and T is definitely one), he's not a sissy (like the other A... although paired up, those two are horrible together! Older A becomes a bully, while new A eggs him on.). He's just thoughtless.
Of course, in my books that's a pretty high crime. ;-)
But, they are all just kids. They will grow and mature and become decent adults. Most people are nice, and they will grow out of their clueless tendencies. They will. I did (no laughing, please; it's not nice), so they will, too.
And I will have patience. I will. I am an adult. I am. Really.
I will not kill the little shits. I won't.
*breathes*
Okay, better now.
