Lauren

Since Auntie Mimi is out of town this week, we get to keep Lauren.  We love when Lauren comes over for a visit, but I am not so sure that Lauren feels the love from the manner that we send it her way…

For instance, Owen and Jack screaming and running around Lauren in circles hitting her and pulling on her clothes is meant to show her how excited they are that she is here.  I am pretty sure that is more of a torture technique to a 16 year-old.

Then there is Owen saying to Lauren on Tuesday, “Wow (Lauren), you are up kind-of earlyish.  Why are you up?”  And then on Wednesday, “Woah! It is morning and you are awake.”    I think these seemed kind-of insulting to Lauren, but it was just that Owen  and Jack asked me a thousand times on Monday [variations of these...] “Is Lauren awake?  Will she get up soon? Why is she sleeping when it is light outside?  Are you sure she is not awake? Can I just go in her room and check to see if her eyes are open?”  I finally answered that teenagers need as much sleep as Grady, and that she would get up at lunchtime.   They just couldn’t believe their luck the next two days when they realized they would get more time with her.

I am fairly sure that sitting in the car while I run into the grocery store leaving her with the monkeys is not her idea of love, but boy do I love her for it!

And I am going to guess that laughing at her with her while she tried on clothes that she said she didn’t like, but I made her try on anyway, was maybe not the most direct way to show my love.  (well, until she saw that some of them looked Good on her.)

Where is the love?!

Surely she must know that this is love? (well, maybe she won’t until she has a teenager driving her car.) Anyway…

When we have to relinquish Lauren to Grandma on Friday, it will be days before Owen and Jack will stop asking for her the moment they wake up.  It will be weeks before they tell me all the things they made with Lauren while playing with the green play dough. It will be months before  they stop asking when she will come over again.  And hopefully it will be less time before we will be able to subject her to some more of our unique “love.”