Spring Break (March 2007)

Spring "Break" has a new meaning for me. Now that it is almost over, I can breathe a sigh of relief. There have been a lot of "breaks" at our house.

Monday was Mystery Break Day. No one really knows what happened, but somehow the wires to dad's stereo speakers all got disconnected. I put a CD on in the afternoon, and no sound came out. I examined the CD- fine. Plugged in- yup. Volume up- check. I pulled the entertainment center away from the wall to check the speaker connections- disconnected. Not just disconnected, but crammed into the wrong holes and air vents on the back of the system. One was stuck in the back of the XBox. Broke. Great. As soon as I stuck my head up over the top of the cabinet and saw the boy's eyes immediately burning holes in the carpet, I knew someone was guilty. Alas, in the past few months they have created a weird 'code of silence' in which no one confesses. They just sit there. I didn't say a word and began putting the wires back where they belonged. After a few uncomfortable minutes, they confessed. They were trying to hook up the XBox and they tripped on the cords, they said. Who did it? I asked. All of us, they said. How three boys can fit behind an entertainment center I'll never know. Anyway, I fixed it.

Tuesday was Jewelry Destruction Day. While trying to put one of my necklaces on, Riley discovered that chains are not elastic. Also new to Riley- you have to have a hole in your ear to put an earring on.

Wednesday was Dismembered Inkpen Awareness Day. Apparently the tiny springs in the clicky pens are worth their weight in gold- to a 10 year old. While attempting to jot a note while on the phone, I found that the ink cartridge in my pen popped right inside the tube so I could not use it. The next pen did the same. When questioned, the code of silence was hard to break, but I finally got through to them and Brennan confessed. He wasn't sure where the springs were, but he would look. After about 3 hours I just threw the pens away.

Thursday was Break-a-Door Day. Tobey opened their bedroom door and then Ry crashed into it, ripping it off the hinges. Riley swore he wasn't running, but after examining the state of the door, he admitted he may have been 'going quicker'. Lucy and Wyatt had fun watching me use Gorilla Glue and a power drill to fix the door in the middle of the living room floor. Lucy told me "my house has a door". "Uh huh..." I said with a smile, grinding my teeth. Riley reassured me that 'for a girl' I was pretty good with the drill.

Friday was Break a Brother Fun Day. Brennan, who has newfound anger and a need to be away from Riley, punched him in the head and called him an "immature idiot". When questioned about the incident, Ry said through the tears "He told me I was a idiot in nature!" Later in the evening, Brennan was losing a made up game of
some kind, and whipped a ball at Riley's head. Score one for Bren. He won a one way trip to bed.

Tomorrow is Saturday, and I just can't wait to see what's in store on the next day of "Spring Break"!