Dawn of a New Era

And so begins sibling sneakiness...

Part 1:
The children were playing "sleepover" upstairs. I heard thudding feet coming down the stairs and I overheard Michael say, "We need to go to the basement without Mama seeing us." He says this five feet away from me at full volume of course. He's just old enough to start being sneaky, but still unsophisticated enough to think that if he can't see me, I can't hear him. Ava echoed, "without Mama seeing us". I actually thought it was all pretty funny and kept my back to them as they "snuck" around the corner to the basement stairs. I managed to not laugh out loud as Michael pulled Ava away rather loudly when she almost came the wrong way (towards me).

Part 2:
I put the children down for nap. Michael first, and Ava second. I close their doors during nap. Michael's door has one of those child protection devices on the inside doorknob to keep him from wandering when he should be sleeping, but Ava's does not because until recently she didn't wander.

I came downstairs and began to settle. I love naptime. I love the quiet and the moments that are completely mine. Then I heard feet coming down the stairs. And giggling. And shushing. Michael said, this time whispering (loudly), "Shhhh! She'll hear us!" Apparently Ava had left her room and let Michael out of his and the two decided to go exploring. I deliberately shifted in my chair making it creak. Michael said, "Quick, she's coming!" and then I heard thudding feet heading back upstairs.

I waited a few moments to give them time to get back upstairs. Children who were experienced at this game would have each gone to their separate rooms and pretended to be asleep. My little ones both headed to Michael's room and were playing when I got up the stairs. I escorted them both back to their beds and reminded them that naptime isn't playtime. I actually sat in a chair in Ava's room for the five minutes it took her to fall asleep when she stayed still for that long. Then I slipped back downstairs for a second time.