Wednesday, April 15, 2009

No wonder I have gray hairs!

While I was fixing my hair today, I heard Carter and Kate playing "Easter Egg hunt" in the living room. I didn't think anything of it, until I went downstairs and saw the backdoor open and the empty carton of what should have been RAW eggs sitting on the floor.

I asked Carter where the eggs were and he pointed to the backyard. Then he said that he and Kate had thrown them over the fence.

Let me just pause for a moment and explain to you how much the man that shares our fence with us does NOT enjoy living by us. He's nice enough and has never done anything out right mean or rude. But, he HATES our dog. Hates is probably not even a strong enough term. And I think he feels almost that same emotion for our noisy, dirty children. When we first moved here, Carter who was not quite two, got out of the house and ended up in this man's backyard. He didn't find it amusing at all and quickly built a fence so no wandering children could get into his yard. His backyard is the most amazing yard I've ever seen. It's two levels (dug out) of full grown forest in a city neighborhood. I understand that it is his sanctuary and I do my best to respect that. I try not to let the dog bark too much (an impossibility) and make sure the kids don't scream past bedtime. Pretty much, we just try to keep our distance.

Anywho...after hearing Carter's words I grabbed a chair and peaked over the fence. Sure enough my kids had egged the neighbor. There were about 5 raw egg shells and splattered yolks all over the place. I wanted to crawl in a hole and die!! Oh my word!!! What were they thinking???!!! And not only did they egg him with raw eggs, but see that blue egg clear back by the a/c unit? Yah, it says, "Carter" on it.

My neighbor isn't home, and I can not find a latch on the fence anywhere to get in and clean up the mess. I am just dying. Carter has practiced saying, "I'm sorry Mr Smith" about 30 times and now we just sit and wait until he gets home from work.

Oh the joys of a son. I didn't think I'd be dealing with vandalism until he was at least a teenager. Give me strength!

Update: We've since talked to the neighbor and cleaned up the mess. I was SOOO redfaced and embarrassed. And he was very kind and understanding. He even took me on a tour of his beautiful backyard. Okay....I feel much better now.

22 comments:

The Manwarings said...

I don't think I've stopped laughing yet. That is so funny. I think that tops just about every embarrassing thing my kids have done, maybe put together. You deserve some kind of reward for this one. Good luck!!

CB said...

Oh my gosh that will be a story you can tell for a long time!
Even though your neighbor doesn't enjoy children or dogs at least he sounds like a very kind man.

I bet that was horrible facing him!

Jewelle said...

Oh my goodness! I find what the kids did funny, but I can imagine the embarrassment of having to talk to that neighbor. I would have turned ten different shades of red when talking to him. Glad he was nice to you about it, and at least the got the sidewalk NOT the house.

Kori said...

Ok I know this is not funny but tears are streaming down my face. That Carter is something else.

Anonymous said...

Elena,
Reading that I think I felt the same dreadful sick in the pit of my stomach that you did. I know your neighbor and he really is a nice person. I think we can all understand when it comes to the things kids do. It is a good lesson for your kids to learn to apologize when they mess up. Yep, we have had to do that a time or two. Aren't you glad it's over?
Kayce

Deanna said...

oh, wow. I feel like that with our neighbors sometimes...our kids throwing rocks in their yard and them chewing us out because they could have broken a window. Yeah. I'm sure that was Taylor's motive...break some glass! :) Glad it's all okay now!

Deidra Smith said...

LOL!! I was laughing right from the start-I remember your stories of this particular neighbor and just knew that was who had been egged! Glad to see he was nice enough about it:)

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

I am vascilating between laughing and thinking "ruh-ro."

Lee Ann said...

Crying! Crying! Crying! My gut hurts! Oh Elena!!!!! I just can't even imagine!

I'm so glad you got "it" all cleaned up though. What a relief!

becky ward said...

are you kidding?! that is so funny. glad it wasn't me. (; that carter. what will he come up with next?

The Manwaring Family said...

I laughed out loud as I was reading this post!! Funny! I'm glad it's you and not me (yet...I'm sure I will have something happen like this in the future..comes with having boys!!)

LouandAngela said...

Whew! I'm glad for your update! How scary! I can imagine how angry he COULD have been since I had to deal with something similar in my back yard. Only two differences were--the eggs thrown all over the place were hardboiled and they were thrown by my own children(with a little help from some friends)and in my own yard. UGHHH!! Yeah, I made THEM clean it up. And then it rained and that helped a lot too! Made me so MAD!!

Tonya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tonya said...

Oh... that is too funny... Just look at it this way, maybe the spirit was using Carter to break the ice with your neighbor and now you all will be great friend. After all he was "Man" enough to fess up and then you cleaned it up....

I do hate to break the news to you, just wait until he is eight....and is truly experiencing choice and accountability.

Thanks for the great laugh.

The CEO said...

We are totally rolling. Brent was laughing so hard I think tears were streaming down his face. The joys of parenting. Thanks for the great laugh. Shanna and Brent

Allisyn said...

Oh my gosh that is to funny.Look at it this way Easter is over so Carter's name will not appear on any more flying eggs over the fence.

Trish said...

Oh my goodness! I am laughing so hard!

Can I just say that it is a very good thing that Cooper and Carter are not neighbors, those boys seem exactly alike and they could cause so much trouble!

Still laughing.........

Natalie and Quin said...

Wait til I he discovers paintballs. Maybe Bryon and I can instruct him early. Hahahahaha

Brenda said...

Oh, we are so in for it with the little boys in our life! I hope I don't have a close relationship with the high school police man! Luckily, so far, my son has only vandalized my own house:)

Miki said...

I had to come back just to read all of the comments. I'm so glad that I got to read it with you over the phone. I bet you can only imagine those people laughing as much as I did. How funny....ooh.....

Unknown said...

Oh, what a day! That had to be so horrifying! What's worse, dog poop or eggs? HMMMM, that's a hard one but at least you were willing to clean it up. I wish some people would do that when their dog decides to mark territory on my yard!

Jennifer P. said...

I have been WAITING to read about that story ever since getting a sneak peek about it on Facebook! Oh my goodness girl!--you are going to HAVE to write a book one day. You've earned your parenting gold medal...and a silver...and a bronze too :0)