Nerd Children
Even within all the visiting family time that we had, we tried to keep some semblance of our normal lives intact. Which is why we spent Friday evening with Friend and Doc and the boys, eating a delicious turkey barley soup that Friend had made out of her leftover turkey. She had her family over at their house this year, so the turkey was there, too. If I want turkey leftovers, I have to cook my own bird first, since Thanksgiving was up at Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa’s house. But I digress.
As a treat, the Webmaster and I took along our copy of Up, since we had just gotten it and Ane and Tad had not seen it yet (they saw it in the theaters last May, as did the boys), so it would be fresh and new for everyone. However, the Webmaster and I had finally taken the plunge and bought the movie on Blu-ray – it’s our very first one. And we don’t own a Blu-ray player yet. However, Disney, being the brilliant marketers that they are, includes a DVD copy and a digital copy with each Blu-ray movie, so even if you don’t yet own a Blu-ray player, you can still watch the movie and then be ready when the glorious day comes (in Tad’s opinion) when you finally do own a Blu-ray player.
But the Brain and Head did not know that. And I decided to play a joke on them.
I walked in and told the boys that we had a new movie for them to watch – ta-da! Up was revealed. They were thrilled. Then I dropped the hammer. “It’s a Blu-ray movie, boys, so… where’s your Blu-ray player?”
The Brain literally froze in place. “We don’t have one.”
I shrugged. “Oh, well. Guess we’re out of luck, then.”
I could see the wheels turning in the boys’ heads, trying to comprehend this turn of events. Finally, the Brain said, “You’re not lying to us, are you?”
I showed him the Blu-ray symbol on the case. And the Brain… burst into tears.
Apparently I have a deep, cruel streak. Friend yelled teasingly from the kitchen, “Are you happy now? You made him cry!”
It took the Webmaster showing the Brain the top of the cover that reads “Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy” before he calmed down. Then he went squealing all around the house, jumping for joy.
Doc muttered, “I think the boy might be bipolar.”
The kids did enjoy the movie well enough to mostly let the adults catch up and shoot the breeze after dinner. I noticed that the boys had been working on their handwriting in their homeschooling work. Then Friend pointed out something that Head had written about when to pray, but then he had attributed it to G. K. Chesterton. (When I titled this post “Nerd Children,” I wasn’t referring to my kids.)
However, this made-up quote by Head irritated the Brain so much that he crossed out G. K. Chesterton’s name and put Head’s in place of it. Which, naturally, upset Head that his brother had defaced his work. Finally, Friend made peace by copying out a real Chesterton quote herself, and each of the boys copied off something else (Head copied off a verse from Psalms, and I forget what the Brain copied off) in their best handwriting.
“So, the pen really is mightier than the sword in this house,” the Webmaster joked.
“Yeah, all you need to do in this house is say, ‘You plagarized!’ ‘Waaah!'” Doc said, mimicking the boys.
The Webmaster and I began to talk about how when Ane and Tad have a difference of opinion, they’ll usually just start with yelling and move on from there to beating the snot out of each other. Friend shrugged and said, “That does happen here, too.”
“After the plagarism accusations,” I replied.
To prove Friend’s point later, after the movie was over and we all had dessert (the kids finished first, of course), the four older kids were playing in the living room while we adults chatted and lingered over pie and apple cider (Rupert was already in bed). Suddenly, we hear a thud. Then Head begins to cry.
As we waited to hear the accusation of which kid created the thud, we heard the Brain speak up. “Well, I just did the old Jedi body slam. But he’s not bleeding.”
I suppose that it wasn’t a good thing that all four grown-ups immediately dissolved into laughter.
But even children who can quote G. K. Chesterton beat the snot out of each other occasionally. It makes me feel better, you know?
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