It's not often that my children are away from each other for long periods of time.
When Little Billy went away to Boy Scout camp - he was away from his family for a week.
Away from his mother.
Away from his father.
Away from his 3 sisters.
For a WHOLE WEEK!
Upon his return - he walked into his house and he smiled when he saw his mother.
He smiled when he saw his father.
He smiled when he saw his 3 sisters.
There were hugs for everyone.
There were smiles and hugs and happiness over the boy child's return to the On The Upside household for ---
Oh ....
Maybe -- 16 minutes.
Then ...
The mood quickly turned sour.
The smiles faded.
The welcome home turned quickly from jubilation to ...
A bit of bickering about this -
And ...
A bit of bickering about that -
It began with ... the boy child informing his family of his adventures at camp -
About the swimming ...
And the hiking ...
And being forced to eat cafeteria style food ...
Over and over and over again.
When the boy's sisters attempted to suggest that their week was also filled with moments of intolerable meals ---
Boring afternoons with nothing to do ---
Dull evenings ---
The boy child had had enough.
The boy - who was a bit stressed from the 7 days of being stuck in the woods with 48 other uniformed-clad Scouts ---
Whose teeth were severely coated in a filmy fuzz ---
Whose hair and clothes stunk of bug spray and camp fire smoke and burnt marshmallows ---
Could not restrain his frustration any longer.
He looked those three sisters sternly in the eye and ...
He SCREAMED ...
"WELL ...
YOU'RE LUCKY YOU WEREN'T ME ---
FORCED TO SIT ON A PICNIC TABLE FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK ---
FOR 7 DAYS STRAIGHT ---
DAY AFTER DAY ---
LEARNIN' ---
EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ---
ABOUT --
FIRST AID!
On the upside ... That shut those three sisters - right up!