![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/naughty-children-300x200.jpg\" "\\"naughty")
\u00a0When we learned our daughter\u2019s spouse, Jim, was nominated to attend War College, I blurted, \u201cReally? They have a college for war?\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0When we learned our daughter\u2019s spouse, Jim, was nominated to attend War College, I blurted, \u201cReally? They have a college for war?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kris answered, \u201cOh, yes. It\u2019s quite an honor and we\u2019ll be living there for a year. We\u2019d love to have you come up and visit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hubby and I proposed we child-sit Laura, age six and Daniel, age four, while their parents relaxed at a nearby resort for the weekend. Having raised four boys and a daughter how difficult could it be to entertain, feed and keep two small children in line?<\/p>\n
The family Jeep squealed away leaving the four of us coughing exhaust at the curb. In an attempt to assuage our grandchildren\u2019s anxiety Hubby said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a rockin\u2019 time, Kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Traumatized, Laura and Daniel raced to the sanctuary of the playground.Carlisle,PAwas experiencing a frog strangler spring and except for their faces, I couldn\u2019t have identified the returning muddy urchins. Despite screaming protests, Hubby hosed them down on the porch. In the space of ten minutes we had established ourselves as \u201cThe Enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n
During dinner I discovered my grandchildren were discriminating (polite for \u201cpicky\u201d) eaters. Laura eyed her plate and wrinkling her nose protested, \u201cWe don\u2019t eat potatoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, well, how about the lemon-baked chicken?\u201d<\/p>\n
Teetering on his rear-two-chair legs, Daniel said, \u201cIt\u2019s got something funny on it. It doesn\u2019t taste right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me guess\u2026you\u2019re not crazy about vegetables either.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like French fries.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, French fries are potatoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo they aren\u2019t. They\u2019re something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, they\u2019re\u2026Daniel, stop pounding your fork into the table\u2026Laura, watch your milk\u2026nuts, there it goes\u2026no, I\u2019m not mad. Look, everyone ready for dessert?\u201d<\/p>\n
At least, I was. They won War College Battle Number One and I retreated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you like me to read you a bedtime story?\u201d I asked and presumed we were having a bonding moment as we nestled on the couch. In retrospect, it was a bedtime delaying tactic.<\/p>\n
Skirmish Number Two began when both of our sweet grandchildren refused to pick up their toys before baths. We fired a warning shot and sat downstairs killing time while their whimpering shifted to silence. A-ha! We smirked and tiptoed into enemy territory. The combatants were nestled amongst their toys, sound asleep. We tucked them into bed and lights out.<\/p>\n
Hubby asked, \u201cWhen did Jim and Kris say there were returning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are just kids. Tomorrow will be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday at 6:15 a.m. we woke to hi-volume TV cartoons, a rain deluge and good-bye to a park outing.<\/p>\n
I foolishly assumed KP baking a batch of cookies would kill a couple of hours and evolve into scrap-book memories\u2026and it would have if half the cookie-dough wasn\u2019t consumed and followed by latrine trips.<\/p>\n
Bored, Daniel discovered launching his toy metal airplanes into walls was as lethal as a real air battle. As the planes disintegrated their French Bull Dog munched and regurgitated them. Laura invited a friendly ally in and pouted when her guest deserted her and joined Daniel in the air \u201cdog-fight.<\/p>\n
Laura asked, \u201cWhen are Mommy and Daddy coming home? Can you call them now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Desperate to salvage our relationships, I asked, \u201cWould you children like popcorn for supper?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel mumbled, \u201cBeats potatoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone\u2019s mood improved. Daniel and Laura played bathtub battleship, and Grandpa swabbed the floor. Was this is truce?<\/p>\n
Sunday morning brought forth a shimmering sun and their parent\u2019s return. A relaxed, beaming Jim asked, \u201cSo how did it go? Any problems?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shell-shocked and glassy-eyed, we crossed our arms and tentatively smiled at the kids. The gracious victors grinned back and shouted, \u201cWe had a great time with Grandpa and Grandma!\u201d<\/p>\n
Little did we know we had signed up for War College.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0When we learned our daughter\u2019s spouse, Jim, was nominated to attend War College, I blurted, \u201cReally? They have a college for war?\u201d Kris answered, \u201cOh, yes. It\u2019s quite an honor… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26565"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}