So the other day the baby was napping, and like all good mothers I was spending some one on one time with each of my bigger boys. Tanner had just read with me and was coloring quietly in the other room, and I was reading with Cannon. I noticed a praying mantis on the fence outside the basement window. I quickly pointed it out to Cannon and suggested that he get Tanner and they go outside to catch it. They ran out the back door and told me to get a jar. Instead of getting a jar I actually switched over a load of laundry, put a few things away and then walked out into the backyard. This is what I saw:
Yes, my 3 and 4 year old were on top of the garage roof. To be totally honest I was too shocked to scream. I asked them what they were doing and they said the praying mantis flew up on top of the roof so they followed it. I told them to stay where they were so I could get my camera to take a picture for Daddy, then I helped them get down.
How did they get up there? We built a deck last year that the railing runs very close to the carport that is attached to the garage. When doing it we realized that one day our boys would figure out how to climb on top of the garage but we thought they would be 6 or 7.
Did they get in trouble for being up there? No. By the time I had taken their picture they were getting pretty nervous. When they had to climb back down the roof and across the carport they were extremely nervous. They would have had to take quite the jump to get down to the deck, so I had to lift them off the carport and put them down. While standing on a wicker chair to get them down, my foot fell through the bottom and I pretty much dropped Tanner onto the deck. Pretty sure they're not going to try it again, at least this year.
After all was said and done, I was kind of chuckling to myself thinking about what they'll do next. Suddenly I had visions of my boys all piling into the red wagon and racing down a hill, jumping off the top of the garage roof onto the tramp, breaking neighbors' windows, stitches, broken bones, etc... I realized that we just might become 'that family'. You know the ones that all the teachers say "that boy's in your class? He's in that family" or the neighbors all get a little nervous when they see 'that family' coming down the street?? I kind of got a sick feeling in my stomach (see the family I had always envisioned was not 'that family'), but I've decided it is what it is. My boys are adventurous, problem solving, daring, active, and competitive- basically, they're boys. I'm anticipating that Max will be right along with them next summer and after we throw a few more kids in the mix we will be 'that family'.
