Respect my authority!

The breeze was oddly cool tonight as I stepped out of our Honda Pilot on my way out to the play ground, at our subdivison, where my two-year old niece, Annagrace, was frolicking joyfully amongst the swings, sand and other children.

"Comon! Lets go slide" said Annagrace ever-so enthusiastically. "What's Mauldin doing?"

Annagrace is at the age where she has to ask a question about almost anything. Everything around her she is curious about...

"what is that?"

"It's a napkin.."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm drinking my drink."

"Where is Lala?"

"Who is that?"

"Why?"

"Who?"

"When?"

"He is enjoying his hands." I replied.

My son, Mauldin, or MJ as I like to call him, has started teething and really enjoys sucking on not just his thumb, as most 3-month olds like to do, but he hastens to put his whole fist in his mouth as if he were trying to imitate Karen from the movie Mean Girls.

While I was having a discussion ,with my niece, I could see my wife, out of the corner of my eye, pointing in the distance at something and mouthing "OMG."

"What are you and Paul talking about over there?" I asked.

"There is a little boy over there" replied Paul, "and he is about to break his neck"

"or another important body part" said Laura, chiming into the discussion.

"Where?" I said.

"He is on the other side of the slide," exclaimed Jenn. "you can't see him from here."

Jenn was being pulled to the slide on the other side of the sandy playground. Annagrace really likes it when her mommy plays with her.

Sure enough, as we rounded the corner of all the playground equipment I spotted a young boy, not much older than six or seven years old, on top of the part of the top slide, but what is so bad about this you ask? He was on the outside of the slide, about three stories up!

"Should we do something?" I asked.

"I dunno..." said Paul.

"Laura, say something, you are a teacher," I started at her. "use your authoritative voice."

"You do it!" Laura replied.

I looked around and saw no parents, I didn't want his mom to be just walking by and I start getting onto her son. He had brown hair, and looked as if he had been playing for atleast a couple of hours. I assume this because he probably got bored sliding over and over while his parents played in a volleyball tournament across from said playground. I found that out while talking to this little boy... named Darren. The conversation went like this...

"Hey!" I hollared up at the little kid, "what are you doing up there?"

"Just hanging out!" said Darren.

"Well, we can see that!" I said. "It really isn't safe for you to be up there... where are your parents?"

"They are playing volleyball!" said Darren.

"Well, I think you need to get down from there..." I said sternly, "you are going to fall and hurt yourself."

"Yes, and you shouldn't be climbing on the outside of the slide like that with socks on!" Laura said in accordance of my request.

I figured the little boy would shrug me off and continue on as he was before I came along to interrupt his playtime. However, to my immense surprise the little guy started to climb down... I thought to myself, "please, please don't fall now!"

Darren thankfully made his way back inside the playground platform and was safe now that he was not three stories high on the outside of a plastic blue slide.

So, wow, it made me think... maybe I can do this dad thing! Maybe I can sound like an authority figure and have a kid mind me.

As we were all about to head home, and Paul and I were standing around waiting for the girls to put their shoes back on, I noticed the little boy, Darren, sitting a-top of another slide, this one was a bit lower, but yet still dangerous if he were to fall off of it.

I simply looked in his direction, raised both my arms up in the air and shouted...

"Darren! What did we JUST talk about?"

I said this as a joke and assumed the little boy would not hear me, and if he did he would pay me no mind. However, to shock me yet again, he began his decent and had his feet firmly on the ground before we were off the sand.

So, somone respects my authority... there is hope for me after all!

Fajitas cause gas

Okay, so last night mexican was on the menu for dinner... we: Mauldin, Laura, my sister-in-law, Jenn, brother-in-law, Paul and niece Annagrace all went to a local mexican hotspot called La Parrilla. (I honestly do not know if I spelled that corretly.)

"Hola! Welcome to La Parrilla! Two and a 1/2 for dinner?" said the nice lady behind the podium as we walked in the door.

I stood in the restarant lobby with Mauldin in his car seat on one arm and his diaper bag on the other. I looked the epitome of a daddy. Of course, I am sure I looked the part because my purple polo shirt was wrinkled as can be and I am sure I had some dark circles under my eyes. We decided to head to dinner after a short nap, but can I just say that short doesn't emcompass how short it truly was.

I took the chance to have myself a margarita and Laura and I shared a double order of chicken fajitas. This, at the time, we thought it was a good idea. "We are being so economical!" We thought. However, if I knew what would transpier after said mexican outing I would of chosen something different from their ever-so stickey and glossy menu.

I know this might be TMI, but I feel I need to let you know so you do not make the same mistake. If you feel the need for fajitas and your wife is breastfeeding be sure to take plenty of gas ex, beano or some sort of gas suppression.

After dinner we were so uncomfortable! Mauldin did not have a good night, so that means our sleep was severly disrupted. He was up at 11PM, 1 AM, 3 AM and 5 AM and each time it took a good 15 to 20 minutes to put him back to sleep. Let me just add that I had to go to work the next day and I had a hard time keeping my eyes open the first few hours of the morning.

Moral of story... watch your onion and pepper intake when eating fajitas!

"We must have patience"

“Do you want a cookie?”

This is the question I asked my little niece, Annagrace, the other day…

My wife Laura and I had gone over to my sister-in-law’s house to have pizza & watch a movie (Kung-Fu Panda) we had gotten from Net Flix a few days prior. We, more times than any, always have some sort of dessert after dinner at Jenn and Paul’s house. Normally, it is some sort of sugary confection, ie. Cookies or brownies, but this evening it was Nestle toll house mini cookies.

She gleefully responded, “Yes!” She’s two and her eyes seem to light up when she hears the word cookie, or baby for that matter. But, that is a story for another day.

“Yes, what?” I say…

“Yes, peas…” she replied with splendid eagerness.

“Well, they are still cooking,” I said. “Go back and finish watching Kung-fu Panda while they finish.”

“Otay” she says.

She runs back into the den decked out in her pink and frilly apron complete with pink and crimson bakers hat.

A few minutes pass and we hear a beeping sound that alerts that the cookies are done! It also gives my sister-in-law’s crazy pooches, two Shelties named Cagney & Lacey, who love to bark at anything, the chance to yap their little heads off... I find they hate it when I wave the spatula in the air while doing my best Kung-Fu moves… It makes them go bizurk! They tend to run around in circles while yapping at the air... It is quite entertaining!

“Eric, stop agitating them!” said Laura.

“But, it’s fun!” I reply like a little kid who has found something that allows attention brought on.

Jenn, Laura’s sister, and my wife give me a stern look as to give me a silent reprimand. I proceed over to the oven to retrieve the freshly baked cookies.

“Annagrace, they are done!” I said.

“Yaaaay!” she yells. “I want one.”

“Alright, you can have one, but they have to cool-off a little first,” I said “they are still hot!”

“Otay,” she said in defeated voice. “But…I want a cookie!”

“Annagrace, we need to begin doing something that most adults practice on a daily basis…” Laura looks over at me in wonderment, confused, and probably very confused where I am going with this notion.

“We must have… patience.” I said this while invoking my inner Kung-fu Panda. I proceeded to put both my palms together as if I were going to pray and proceeded to bend my knees down to her level and repeated what I said before.

“We must have patience… Something Uncle Eric still is working on himself! Can you show me how you have patience?”

“Yes,” Annagrace replied, as she clasped her two tiny palms together and whispered the word, “patience.”

“Very good,” I said. “I have much to teach you, my young Padawan.”

I was so surprised with the whole situation! You can certainly learn a lot about yourself while helping a kid making cookies! I am looking forward to having a lot of fun with Mauldin when he gets here...

Jumpin' in a pile of leaves...

Who knew that jumping in a pile of leaves would prove to be so fun?

Who knew boys and girls were so different? LOL Okay, I knew it, but today I got some proof! LOL!

This weekend was spent at my in-laws, because this year we will be attending Thanksgiving with my family, the tried and true sacred day of turkey, cornucopias, food drives and tripdafan.

Being married causes you to have to share certain holidays in between families, by which is sometimes an easy feat and others a little more argurous, although my wife, Laura, and I have always been lucky that we have never fought over this issue.

On Sunday morning I decided that we should have some fun with the kids, my nephew and niece, Drew and Annagrace. I mentioned the night before about raking the leaves in the yard and letting the kids jump in them. I mean you can't go through life without atleast jumpin' into a pile of leaves at least once, right? I sincerely hope... no I pray my child isn't a pansy. I want my boy to not be afraid to play and get dirty... to roll on the ground and stand up and laugh... I hope my little boy ends up peeing in his pants because he is having so much fun playing outside! Okay, maybe not the last thing... I do want him to be potty trained, but you get my point.

The first kid to play in the leaves probably never knew it would catch on so... seriously it is a fun thing to do... I mean as long as you get all the sticks, pinecones and other ailing things that could lurk in the pile! I will say it is a little unnerving to hurl yourself into a pile of wet leaves, that can't be sanitary.

But, isn't it worth it to experience the euphoria of leaping into a soft patch of dry foliage on a day when the sun is shining and the leaves are nice and dry...

Truly this is a day for a kodak moment.

Laura, my father-in-law, Bill and brother-in-law, Paul all were sitting at the dinner table the night before when I mentioned the idea... they had no idea I was serious.

Well, we all took part in the fun...

It is the little things in life that you remember for a lifetime...

Gutting pumpkins...

Yesterday, my wife, Laura, called me to let me know we had been invited over to her sister’s house to carve pumpkins. Now, I, myself, used to carve a pumpkin every year, that is, until I moved from home. Then I soon discovered why my mom and dad always wanted me to carve my pumpkin… outside. It is really messy!

Anyway, fast forward, Laura and I have been together four years, this past October 29^th, and have never, ever carved a pumpkin together! How sad… I know…

Anyway, we went over to Jenn and Paul’s last night to carve pumpkins with our adorable niece, Annagrace. That being said, here are some pictures of last night’s pumpkin carving festivities.

So, we now have started a tradition... we will not miss another year of carving a pumpkin! Espsically with Baby Skates!

Enjoy and have a fun and safe Halloween!

Halloween is upon us...

Halloween is almost here… the night of All Hallows Eve...this weekend, infact, and I am so excited!

And, this year it lands on a FRIDAY!

Laura’s cousin, Jeremy, and brother-in-law, Paul, are taking off Friday to get ready for our Halloween Fright Fest that evening.

I wish I could!!!! But, alas, I will be at work all day... I am meeting Laura over at Jeremy and Tori's where I will change and we will all have dinner before we scare the witts outta the lil' kiddies. However, this year we will try and be more dilligent about running children into the street! LOL! Okay, I know that isn't funny, but to see their faces when they run away in fright... warms my heart! HAHAHA Okay, that sounded a little off balance didn't it...?

This will be the 4th year we have gotten together, ever since I have been dating Laura, in 2005, to scare the neighborhood kids before they could get to the door to receive their Halloween treat from one of the girls: Laura, my wife; Tori (Jeremy’s wife); Britton (Jeremy’s sister) or Jenn (my sister-in-law and Paul’s wife). This year Amy, Laura’s, eldest sister, has been pulled into the mix! She has agreed to walk around the premises wearing her scary zombie garb. I, am as always, a werewolf; Jeremy, Michael Myers, Paul the Zombie Vampire; Laura is the good witch instead of lil' Red b/c this year she doesn't fit into her lil' Red costume... Baby Skates has caused her to make a switch to a Witch! Britton, Jeremy's sister, and her fiance’, Chris, are scheduled to come and take part in the festivities as well but that is all dependent on their flight in from NJ.

Every year the group grows... however, last year Paul couldn't make it b/c he was sick so I'm sure he will make up for it this year!

Lets hope they can make it!

I will be sure to post a detailed blog of the evening!!!

Muwhahahahahaha! -

"A muck, A muck, Amuck"- "Hocus Pocus"

Chicken & Dumplins

This past weekend was, of course, eventful…

We actually had to bow out of a couple events due to how event-FULL we were! (Notice the play on words…)

October has taken off and honestly not yielded us anytime to just stay home and sleep. Everyone seems to give us the whole “sleep now, while you can!” Warning. Like they are some cheesy, scary pseudo-villian from one of those Verizon commercials. “It’s a dead zone…” hahaha

However, we have not taken their advice because, oh we haven’t had time.

Moving on, this Sunday my wife, Laura, and I had some company over for dinner.

The Peacocks and the Mauldins.

Note: Laura’s sister and cousins all live in the same subdivision as we do, so we get together quite often!

Jenn & Paul, Laura’s older sister and brother-in-law came with their spunky daughter, Annagrace in tow. As well as, Tori & Jeremy, Laura’s cousins, who had their I’m- gonna-run-into-this-and-see-what-happens son, Grant, along as well. They all came over at 6 o’clock sharp for some of Laura’s oh-so-good Chicken & Dumplins. Annagrace is on the peak of age two and Grant just turned one. They both go to the same daycare and are so fun to watch.

“Hey” said Annagrace.

“Hey Annagrace, how are you?” I said while bending down to give her a hug.

“Dad-deeeeee!” she screamed while grasping onto Paul’s leg with quite a death grip.

“Do you wanna go see Logan and Andy?” I quickly interjected.

Annagrace loves our dogs and anything she was thinking about before will totally disappear out of her mind because her one and only goal is to see a puppy.

“Annnndeee” yells Annagrace.

“Okay, well we have to go out back to see them, they are outside.” I said.

“Outside” she says while running for the door.

Right then the doorbell rings and I know it has to be Jeremy, Tori and Grant.

“’xcuse me,” I said. “Paul, can you take her to see the dogs?”

“Sure.” said Paul while reaching down for Annagrace’s hand to lead her out the back door.

I ran over to open the door where I see Tori, Jeremy and little Grant, who seemed almost afraid to come inside.

“Ahhhh” yelled Grant, with an almost inaudible sound, while turning around to face Jeremy, with his arms stretched upwards.

“It’s okay son,” said Jeremy “walk on in.”

“Yah, Grant” I said “It will look more familiar when you get inside.”

Grant has come over to visit probably a total of four times, yet, he does have frequent visits to Jenn and Paul’s house, which, fate would have it, we have the almost exact floor plan as Laura’s older sister’s house, which is down the street.

“Hey! It’s so good to see you.” Said Tori while walking in and holding a basket of biscuits.

“Here I will take those.” I said quickly. “come in!”

“I hope those are okay” said Tori in a sort of a wisper, “they aren’t homemade!”

“That’s really okay,” I said with a smile of approval. “We appreciate you bringing them with you, even if you didn’t slave hours making them.”

Tori laughed and proceeded to walk into the kitchen where Jenn and Laura were working on finishing up dinner. I glanced to see Laura give Annagrace a quick kiss on the cheek. Jenn was holding her while pointing to a big watermelon they were planning on cutting for dinner. I stepped into the den where Jeremy and Paul were sitting mapping out the Halloween scare-fest that is to come in the next few weeks.

“I think we need atleast twenty tombstones” said Paul.

“Do you really think we need that many?” said Jeremy with a rasied eyebrow?

“Yes! We need to have a whole grave yard for the young’ins to walk through.”

“Well, you will be here, Eric will be here and I will be in the garage with a black light” Said Jeremy.

“Do you still have my fog machine?” I interjected.

“We have three fog machines” said Jeremy.

“What about my scary CD I made?” I said.

“Yep! Still got it.” confirmed Jeremy with a pen in hand.

Jeremy, Paul and I are forever bonded due to our love of all things Halloween. Halloween is a month we basically look forward to the entire year. Ever since the first year I dated Laura, in 2005, I have been going to Jeremy’s house on October 31^st for our Haunted Trick-or-Treat night. Jeremy dresses up as Michael Myers, I dress up as a Werewolf and Paul is a zombie Vampire. Each and every year it is a little different and it seems the kids always remember us… it has become a tradition! However, with kids coming into the mix I am not sure how much longer we will be able to continue our trio of fright!

“I think we have plenty of spiders,” continued Jeremy, “but I think I want to get them put on the house somehow!”

As I was sitting in the floor I saw Grant come barreling into the den where we all sat. Little Grant is all boy and seems he isn’t afraid of anything. We have a little bit of a raise in the floor in-between the kitchen and the den and his little foot did not quite make it over, he stumbled and almost fell, but like the little trooper he is, he barreled straight ahead toward his goal, the dogs.

“Aahhhiickkk! Goggg” scream Grant.

“Yah, this is Andy and Logan, Grant.” I said with a huge smile on my face trying not to bust out in laughter due to how cute he was.

“Grant, that’s a dog, say dog.” Said Jeremy.

“Gogg..”

“Good!” I yelled in approval!

“Close enough…” said Jeremy and then he went back to talking to Paul, who was focused on all the costumes in a magazine they had found that said “Halloween Express 2008!”

“Food is ready,” said Jenn.

I was so hungry so I got up and headed to the kitchen where I left the other guys behind. I felt like I had abandoned by brotherhood, but I was starving. Laura and I had been up since 9am and cleaning almost all day. I think all I had to eat that day was a marble loaf from Starbucks. I was getting me some Chicken & Dumplins. Not to mention, Laura had made her sweet potato casserole.

“Annagrace, go tell daddy, it’s time to eat!” I said. “I am sure it will come out something totally different.” I went on under my breathe to Laura, Tori and Jenn.

As she trotted into the den we listened closely to hear the jarble of words that was to come out of her mouth.

“Time for food, daddy.” said Annagrace.

We were stunned! She did it! And in such a cute tone that made even the most hard-core Halloween enthusiast retire from planning to have dinner.

All in all it was a fun night and we also got yet another chance to see what it will be like when a little one is running around the house. One thing I do remember Jeremy saying to me as he walked in the house.

“Well, one thing is for sure, your house certainly won’t look this good with one of these running around!”

The Child Who Must Not Be Named...

This past weekend my wife, Laura, and I went on a trip to the Highlands of North Carolina with some of her family. We left on Friday, September 12th, just when the gas crisis began because of Ike. My opinion of gas prices being hiked just because of a hurricane is stupid! But, that is a whole blog in itself. I digress… We were gone only for a short vacation, Friday to Sunday. But, my story is not of the entire vacation, but of one incident that truly sticks out in my mind as both the cutest and saddest moment that I have experienced in a long time. Although, please note: to respect the confidentiality of a certain little boy, who must not be named, I am changing his name so to protect I promise I made not to speak of this incident to anyone.

It was Saturday, and everyone was getting ready to go to dinner.

“Can I use your bathroom to get ready?” asked Laura to her sister Amy.

“Sure!” replied Amy while taking pictures of her son Peter. Peter is a cute, blonde haired boy about to turn four years old. His idea of a fun day consisted of rough housing, riding around on his daddy’s shoulders and, of course, all things Spider-man.

“This is my transformer.” said Peter, while showing me a black race car with purple markings on it.

“Can you turn this into Venom for me?”

“I am not sure,” I said raising my eyebrows to Amy, “but I will certainly try!”

I proceeded to work on the progression of the transformer from car to action villain, but to no avail, I had no idea what I was doing. Any kind of toy that Peter had it had some sort of affiliation to Spider-man.

“He is very loyal to the genre” explained Amy.

“Here this might help,” said Laura while handing me a piece of paper with red writing all over it. She apparently had finished getting ready and was now trying to help with this insufferable toy.

At the top of the piece of paper read “How to transform Venom.”

“Oh great, thanks.” I said in a very sarcastic tone.

Anyone who knows me knows I hate directions. I guess it’s just a guy thing. After about 5-10 minutes of trying to transform this toy I said “I’m sorry Peter, but uncle Eric can’t figure it out!”

“It’s okay.” said Peter “Can aunt Lala do it?”

“I’m sure she can” I replied. “Aunt Lala can do anything!”

“Here, let me try.” said Laura.

I proceeded to take my turn in the bathroom to get ready for dinner.

While I was in the bathroom I could hear outside the door what was going on in the next room.

Peter was giving Aunt Lala and detailed description of what his toy did and showed her the different ways it could stand up and fight other action figures he had.

“And, if it stands up like this” he started “he can battle Spider-man and Sandman” he seemed to explain all this in a manner that said “Oh-my-God-You-Are-Kidding-You-Didn’t-Know-That?”

Laura would just say “that’s cool Peter, wow!!!”

After about 15 minutes in the bathroom I was dressed and ready.

“Wanna go upstairs so we can go?” I said looking at Laura, Peter and Amy. “I’m ready!”

We all trampled up the stairs which looked like it had been trampled on quite a bit throughout the years. The Berber carpet was light beige, but had a couple of stains here and there from all the people who had rented the cabin before our stay there.

“You all ready to go?” called a voice from the top of the stairs. It was Laura’s mom, Carol, who didn’t know we were already on our way up.

So, we all headed, out the big wooden door, to the restaurant. Laura, Amy, Peter and I were all in one car and Laura’s Mom, Dad, Sister and Brother-in-law rode in another. The drive to the restaurant was long and winding and the views were absolutely breathtaking. But, the only thing on Peter’s mind that evening was his toys.

We finally arrived at the restaurant after what seemed hours, but honestly was about 30 minutes, but driving around a curving mountain makes it seem like a lot longer than it actually is.

We all got out of the car and I ran around the other side to help Amy extract Peter from his car seat. “

“Do you need to go to the bathroom?” asked Amy.

“No mommy, I do not need to go to the bathroom.” he said in a very matter-of-fact tone.

Peter is a very well spoken, almost four-year-old, in my opinion. He likes to enunciate his words, although he does get carried away at times and you find yourself with a screwed up look and thinking “what did he say?” Sometimes Amy can’t even decipher his words, but she does what any loving mother would do… she just smiles and says “Yeah! Uh hu!”

I proceeded to pick Peter up in my arms as we walked into the restaurant. One by one we walked through the door and waited to be seated.

The restaurant had a historic feel to it. It felt like we were sitting on a huge open-aired porch. All the tables were round and sitting spoartically on the floor. There was a huge antler-inspired light fixture, which didn’t seem to be working because it failed to give off any light at all. It was a rather mild night when it came to weather. The wind was not cool, but still not hot, it was just like Goldie Locks would of liked it, just right!

“How many in your party?” I heard a woman ask. “Seven adults and two children. We will need a high chair and a booster seat please” said Laura’s sister Jennifer.

Jennifer and Paul, Laura’s sister and brother-in-law, brought their daughter, our niece, Annagrace, along on the trip. Annagrace is a beautiful fair skinned, blonde haired, blue eyed, slightly temperamental child. She brought along her baby doll, Sammy, to the restaurant and at the table Peter decided he wanted to play with is.

“Nnnnnnnnnnnno!” said Annagrace in all her two-year old glory!

She apparently had no want or need to share her baby doll with Peter, nor did she want to trade for his transformer.

After about ten minutes we all ordered our food and the children proceeded to color and play with their toys. This kept them occupied and happy.

After dinner, everyone sat around stuffed and full. So, it was time for birthday gifts for this dinner was not just a regular dinner, but a birthday dinner for Laura’s mom, Carol. Laura’s family likes to wait at the end of dinner to open gifts, which is opposite of my family, from which we all open our gifts before the feast!

Carol opened her cards and gifts from us all and we headed out of the restaurant. Peter and Annagrace had already been uprooted from the table by both Paul and Bill in order to keep the peace in the open aired eatery.

Laura, Carol and I proceeded out the side entrance to the car. We saw Peter and Annagrace gleefully romping in the gravel parking lot.

“Oh this makes me nervous” said Paul. “All they have to do it trip and you get both crying and a skinned knee.”

“Yes, I can just see it now,” I said. “Which one you think it will happen to first?”

Everyone started to round up the kids so we could head back to the cabin, but there was an issue with Peter. He had a look on his face that read “I’m not happy.” He was frowning, on the verge of tears. Carol, Laura’s mom and Peter’s Nana couldn’t even get him calmed down, although she did figure out the source of the problem.

“Amy,” Carol said “he’s wet his pants.”

I headed over hoping there was something I could do to calm him down. In all the rush to get out of the cabin Peter’s extra clothes had been left and so there was nothing to change him into.

I bent down to his level and said “Peter, are you okay?”

He wouldn’t look at me, but his frown was certainly evident and was so deep that I could feel so bad he was feeling. I took it upon myself to pick him up and decided I was gonna take care of this situation. I felt so bad for him, I knew being a little boy one of the worst and embarrassing things that could happen is to wet you pants.

“In all the excitement he just couldn’t hold it” said Carol. “Are you sure you wanna pick him up?

“He has plenty of clothes back at the cabin” said Laura.

“Yah, I don’t mind, honestly.” I said.

I looked at Amy and said in a low voice “we need to get him out of these wet clothes; he has got to be uncomfortable!!!”

Amy shook her head, yes, in approval.

I went ahead and told Peter what I was about to do and tried to talk to him to get his mind off the situation.

I opened the car door to try and shield him from the public so not to embarrass him anymore than he already was. I had him stand inside the car on the floorboard in front of the seat while I took his wet pants off.

“You know Peter, when we get back to the cabin, we are gonna build a huge fort, okay?! Does that sound fun?” I asked him.

“Yes!” said Peter.

“Mauldin, can you pop the trunk?” I asked.

“”Okay.” Laura said. She and I occasionally share a brain. She proceeded over to the trunk of the car and got out one of the beach towels that we had brought along on the trip just incase we were to go swimming!

“Thanks, sweetheart, you read my mind.” I said.

“You’re doin’ good, Daddio,” said Carol.

“It’s pretty much common sense,” I started! “I was in his situation when I was little.”

We sat Peter in his car seat and covered him up with the blue and orange, Stitch beach towel.

Laura decided she would drive on the way back to the cabin. Peter’s demeanor had completely changed from what is was earlier. So, I turned around in the passenger seat and put my hand on his and said, “Buddy, seriously, it’s okay. It happens to the best of us! We all have accidents. Yours was just today.”

“I know, but I didn’t mean to” said Peter.

“Peter, guess what?” I said. “Uncle Eric has had an accident before too!”

This apparently was exactly what he needed to hear… not to mention his mom was sitting next to him consoling him and making sure he had his T-rex and Transformer toys to get his mind off what had just happened.

“Peter,” I started “don’t worry; this will never be brought up again. We will never tell anyone you did this!”

“The situation that we do not speak of” wispered Laura in a very Harry Potter-esq tone. (see Voldemort.)

“Okay.” said Peter totally convinced.

So, I have upheld my end of the bargin, although, I did tell the story, I did not implicate exactly who it was about.

Besides, One day he will totally look back and laugh!