Alternate sleeping arrangements...A Father's love...

She was writing something , she was writing it in the margins of a Dr. Seuss book and she was deep in thought as she wrote it. I glanced over her shoulder to see what she was up to.
Isobel: "Daddy, can you read what this says?"
Daddy: (It read Novebre the Nith) "It says November the Ninth."
Isobel : "How do you know it says November the ninth?"
Daddy: "Lucky guess."
Isobel: It is a good guess. That's what it says, November the Ninth."
Daddy: "That's very good Pick. Except today is November the 21. You know that, right?"
Isobel: "Yes. I was just practicing. (Whispering to herself) The 21st...who the hell made it the 21st?"

We are all animals...mammals if you must be specific. We are all still cavemen inside and sometimes that cavemen bubbles to the surface and claws and grunts his way out. I know these things, I work the night shift...I am a caveman at the best of times. You can seen example of this sort of throw back behaviour all over society. Football games, players and fans alike posturing and puffing their chests in an effort to intimidate one another. Hockey, rugby, roller derby...the rituals and rites displayed are nothing short of primitive.
But if you want to see true primal behaviour, there is no finer example than the pre-teen boys sleep over...yes friends, The Boy had a sleep over this past weekend. Not his first but the first premeditated one, rather than the situations that arise when parents go visiting and are worn down to the nub by the constant whine of children begging to spend the night with their friends. No, this was a bonafide event.
I was allowed one sleep over that I can remember...(friends coming over and passing out does not count) I understand why....funny that...I picked up The Boy and his guest from the sitter's and prepared for a night of merriment. Ah yes, the Loud Brothers reunited!
I have to say first off, that I have never doubted that The Boy was intelligent. After the two of them got into the house, I am convinced that not only is The Boy smart enough to handle himself in nearly any situation (and rise to the top and control the situation to boot) but that his new found BFF is a bit of a block head...maybe that is a bit harsh...perhaps evolutionary throw back is a better more pc way to put things. To be fair, The Boy's over night guest is younger than The Boy is and is clearly NOT a leader. But like my Grandmother used to say, the world needs ditch diggers too.
And here is where it gets interesting...primitive. Put two adolescent boys together and watch what happens,watch the dynamic that begins to weed itself in. The Boy was instantly the front runner in the dominance of the situation but it didn't stop his friend from trying to change all that.
And so emerged the worst trait in all primates trying to establish themselves as the dominant one...when The Boy turned his back, (figuring he had one the day and proclaimed himself alpha male) his friend humped him. It's not a sex thing or any other weirdness anyone may be thinking, it is an evolutionary leftover that we are all capable of. Watch dogs and apes and ...just about any mammal. If you want to be the boss, you hump. If the humpee submits, the humper wins and is the boss. If there is no submission, there is usually some sort of tussle and the whole thing starts over again.
"Dude, stop." was The Boy's way of saying he wasn't going to submit any time soon. He didn't and eventually the humping and tussling calmed down to patient guidance from The Boy and awkward and unsure looks from his friend. Though I did hear "Dude, stop" continue on for almost the rest of the night. I guess the drive to be the lead dog never really goes away. I was not a humper but I had friends who were and one of them was the one friend who was allowed to sleep over that one time...funny that...
Bedtime came and it had been predetermined they would sleep on the floor in the living room. Camping style, without all that pesky nature and fresh air to ruin things. Predictably, there was much tittering and giggling and talking and whispering and "Dude, stop." And even a few "Be QUIET!"s courtesy of Mrs. Narrator. Eventually all was calm and everybody went to sleep.
Until of course, the mysterious beast that roams the rooms of our house decided to again surface when everyone is in their beds and scare the living jesus out of the two boys camping downstairs. They came upstairs to sleep near the safety of the sleeping parents(the only natural defense against said beast) The Boy slept in his own bed with his friend nesting on a pile of blankets set up on the floor beside him...which is what I had suggested they do in the first place...funny that...
After making sure the boys were settled and safe, (and at least attempting to go to sleep) Mrs. Narrator whispered "How many sleep overs do we figure we have to have?" Could have been worse, they could have been really primitive and attempted to dance by the flames erupting from the jiffy pop container that was burning on the stove, like something out of Quest for Fire. We never got to have jiffy pop after my sleep over...funny that...
By now I was more or less quite awake and went downstairs to see if there was any truth to the noises in the kitchen...We do have mice, though I could see no evidence of any that night. I had to get up early and so decided I may as well stay downstairs so's not to disturb anyone when I got up. Which is what I had suggested all along...funny that...


Story time is fast becoming my favourite time of the day. It used to be that I would read the stories and Izzy would fall asleep beside me. Sometimes I would smell her, drinking in the sweet new kid's smell. Best after a bath mind you. (everyone who has kids know what I am talking about) or other times I would just stare for a while and watch her sleep, marvelling at this beautiful, peaceful little life lying beside me.
Now, with school for her and night shift for me, she does the reading and I usually end up doing the sleeping. Oh there is still some smelling in the room but between the two of us, there's not a lot of sweet anymore.
The other night, we had finished our story and I was getting up to go. I tucked her in and bent low to give her a kiss. She turned her head abruptly.
"Gimme a kiss," I said.
A look of deep thought crossed her face and she looked up at me.
"Yeah so...good luck with that kiss thing. Good-night." she said.
Warms your heart, doesn't it...