Thursday, September 24, 2009

I think we're in trouble.

So remember over the summer when I mentioned that our awesome neighbors next door with the little girl had moved out of state leaving us surrounded by boys. Well, those boys are slowly creeping into our all girl world!

There is an almost three year old boy right next door to us now, three boys in the house next to them, another three boys two more houses down and two boys across the street. There are more boys but I won't bore you with the count and logistics.

We went for a walk down the street one night last week and on the way back, I spied the middle boy (he's five years old) (of the family with three boys that lives two houses away) peering at us from a sidelight window of the door to their house. As Anna stopped walking to stare at the boy, I made a mental note to mark the moment. Is this the beginning? Do they start this young? I told Anna to wave and she did. The little boy waved back.

A few nights ago, the three boys were riding their bicycles out in the street (with their father watching them) when Rich and I arrived home from work. Rich and Grammy brought the girls out to play in the driveway while I ran upstairs to change and check my email. When I walked out the front door, I was quite surprised to see the three boys in our driveway. Somewhat playing with the girls. When I asked their father about their ages, he replied, "L just turned three in June, A is five and I is six."

The phrase "just turned three in June" bothered me but I couldn't immediately figure out why so I tucked it into a dusty corner of my brain. When the madness of six children in the driveway finally subsided, it hit me. Abigail would have turned three years old in June. Should I be mad at myself for not thinking of this right away? I know that Abigail should be three. Whenever I see pictures of Shiloh (yes, Brangelina's offspring), I know that Abigail should be the same age as her. But for this one moment, it didn't jump out in front of me. I was too distracted. I suppose that is how most of us get by. Distraction.

So A, the five year old, was the most interested in trying to actually play with the girls. He would throw one of our balls and Em and Allie would chase it down. The oldest was more interested in pushing the youngest around in the Crazy Coupe. The girls were more interested in their big boy bikes and helmets.

I'm just imagining what this scene is going to be like in ten years.

4 comments:

Hope's Mama said...

Yep, distraction. That's how we do it. I guess with time (and more babies - three babies I might add!) there are more distractions. You are a wonderful mother to Abigail, so please don't feel bad for this tiny slip up.
xo

pyjammy pam said...

We have a bunch of kids the same age range as the boys (you know, within a few years of them) in our neighborhood, and we always imagine what the roving pack of kids is going to look like in 6-7 years. :P

Lani said...

Oh my!! That could get interesting! We have hardly ANY kids in our neighborhood here in god's waiting room:)

Chantel said...

I do the same thing with Shiloh and a few other celeb babies born around that time (Suri...). It really bothers me too.

Yeah. You are in trouble with all those boys. No doubt.