Overheard

Today we went on a daytrip to visit friends and see puppies. During the ride up Jake and Nate (they sit in the back row of the van) spent the majority of the trip bickering. Mostly it was the usual complaints of touching and invasion of space. It brought to mind similar arguments I would have with my brother when we were young and going for a long car trip. I mentioned to Larry that I was thinking of separating Jake and Nate. I would move Jake to the middle row and put Max in the rear with Nate. The tricky part would be convincing Jake to go along with the idea. Jake does not tolerate change. Then Larry and I overheard this gem:

Jake: If I touch you and you don’t touch me I’ll stop touching you.

Nate: No! If I touch you and you don’t touch me I’ll stop touching you.

Larry and I just had to laugh. Basically neither child was going to stop touching the other.

Then the two of them spiraled into a very unpleasant and heated debate over who did what to whom. Larry leaned over to me and said maybe this would be a good time to mention the change of seating arrangements. I quickly agreed and asked Jake if he would be interested in exchanging spots with Max. Jake did not even hesitate to say yes. Max loved the idea and so did Nate. Rebecca wanted to move too, but she would not be part of the swap. I told her that she would get to stay and be close to Mommy and Daddy. She didn’t really understand, but she was mollified at the time.