Jarrett

We had my cousin's son, Jarrett, stay with us the last two nights. The family was in town for my dad's family's annual Christmas party last night.

We only see them once a year at Christmas. Therefore, my kids remembered stories about him, but not his appearance. He quickly adjusted to our consensual lifestyle. The kids ran off to play and I put his belongings in Owen's room. A little while later, the kids asked if they could make ice cream sundaes. So I scooped ice cream until they said, "stop." They emptied a brand new can of whipped cream spray between the three of them, covered it all with sprinkles and laughed hysterically the entire time. Jarrett took one look at everything and said, "This is not the way we do it at my house." I chuckled.

Later we all did origami. I taught him the Danish Christmas star. He taught me and the kids the paper balloon. My kids got bored after a while and wandered off. He took advantage of the fact that he and I were alone and quietly asked me what time he had to go to bed. I replied, "When we're tired." He asked if we stayed up late all the time. I told him that Bridget and Owen don't go to school. He nodded as if to stay, "you're secret is safe with me." After a moment's thought, he started asking me all kinds of questions about homeschooling and just kept responding, "That's not the way we do it at my house." I was getting the biggest kick out of his questions. I couldn't help but giggle. I couldn't hold it in any longer and later told E about my conversations with Jarrett.

The biggest eye opener came when Owen punched Bridget in the face. Bridget came downstairs for comfort. After a while, Owen and Jarrett came down. I asked Owen if he punched Bridget in the face. He replied, "Yes." I thought Jarrett's eyes were going to pop out of his head. We calmly talked about what happened and the kids decided that Bridget getting to tickle Owen and Owen getting to lick her face better (one lick, like a dog) would make everything all right. Jarrett about fell over. He shook his head, smiled a little in disbelief and said, "That's not the way we do it at our house. We get yelled at and sent to our room." I smiled and said, "Yeah, we do things a little different around here."

What a great experience! It was amazing seeing all the changes we've made in our home through the innocent eyes of an outsider. I loved it so much. I can't imagine a better way to live.

I invited Jarrett to come stay with us for a week over the summer. I truly hope they take us up on it. E made the comment, "It is amazing how relaxed and happy a child is when they have no parental rules to rebel against."