Playground John Wayne
On Saturday, Whacko almost got into a fight with a kid on the playground over his sister’s honor.
Two kids who were a little older than Whacko were playing some kind of game. They’d get close to Dot and say “Ahhhhh, monster!” and run away from her. Not a particularly nice thing to do, but nothing that was going to harm her. This didn’t stop Dot from taking offense. As she was holding forth to me about how mad those boys were making her, Whacko came up and listened quietly.
After a moment he says, “I’ll handle this.”
He marches up behind the bigger of the two kids, probably a foot taller than he is. He follows the kid all the way around the equipment and up the ladder towards the slides, giving him the 1000-yard stare the whole time.
When the kid stops, Whacko puts on his best Aanakin-is-about-to-murder-the-Separatist-leaders demeanor and says “Stop calling my sister a monster.” Of course, it’s Whacko, so it sounds more like, “stop calling my sistow a monstow.”
By this point, they’re about 20 feet away, and I don’t hear any more of the conversation until I hear Whacko say “I know Tae Kwon Do” and the other kid kicks the air to show that he at least thinks he knows it, too.
Part of me wanted to see what would develop, but I formed a quick mental image of someone tumbling off the playground equipment and instead took the opportunity to say, “Time to go home, guys.”
On our way back to the van, I told him that I knew he was a good kid, but did he remember the first rule of Tae Kwon Do? (The first thing they teach the kids in the younger classes is never to use Tae Kwon Do to cause trouble or hurt others). He grins and says, “I know, Dad. I was just doin’ psychs.”
August 16th, 2007 - Posted in Parentgeekness | |
