Woke
up this morning and was starting the day. Bit of organizing here.
Bit of planning there. Bit of taking the sheets off the bed to
get the laundry moving in the washing machine.
All
of this here and there led to me headed toward the door for two
quick errands, and a decision to stop for some coffee, perhaps
some donuts, and maybe a breakfast sandwich or two. Quiet debate
was taking place over the order. Kind of a “…let’s share something
so if you get this, I’ll get that, and we’re still likely going
to end up with donuts neither of us will eat right away and might
just regret later…” situation.
That’s
when we paused to consider the nephew.
We’re
of split opinions about him at times.
I
think, since we’ve been encouraging him toward productivity and
joining the real world, if he doesn’t want to wake up then he
gets the results of the order that was made. Didn’t tell us anything
as we assembled our plans the evening before, was aware of those
plans, and sleeping when the rest of the house was moving and
the plans kicked into action. He didn’t order, so he doesn’t get
anything.
(I
swear, that sounds more evil and punishing than it should as I
reread it. Point is, as almost all of us have experienced with
kids, if he wants to stay up late and play video games or such
then that’s his choice. World keeps moving in the morning. We
told him we were headed out to grab something. We decided to go
to bed, with a big day of work ahead. He decided to stay awake.
We missed out on playing video games all night. He missed out
on a coffee and a chocolate glazed. Seems very straightforward
to me, and I feel like most of you agree. Here comes the bit with
the aunt, and she doesn’t agree.)
Fiancée
wants to wake him up. But in a wonderful twist, she doesn’t want
to wake him up purely to be kind to him. More precisely, she’ll
“wake his ass up” to ask him. And yes, she did have a mischievously
devilish evil smile on her face as she headed down the corridor.
(As
I led up to it, you were thinking this was going to be me saying
he gets nothing and her saying to get him something. Weren’t you?
I’m guessing viciously and delightfully evil fiancée calling
his name because this was her excuse to do what she had wanted
to do already but was waiting on a reason was not what you thought
was coming.)
Still…
question… if he asked for nothing when the subject came up, does
he deserve a coconut jelly stick and hot regular hazelnut?
I’m
not completely heartless here. If it’s a special place not to
be missed and we’re on vacation, or I’m grabbing a dozen for everyone,
of course I’d get him a donut or two (or three). No worries there.
But… myself turning to viciously and deliciously…
If
you didn’t place a request when asked, don’t ask later why there’s
nothing with sprinkles for you in the box when you wake up.
(Apply
that both figuratively or literally as you wish.)
Every
so often, when the dogs have gone outside, I’ll be ready with
treats when they come inside. One of the dogs likes to linger
a bit in the yard. Linger is being generous. As she stands and
poses, head lifted slightly into the breeze, you could time her
return to the house with a calendar. When she comes in, she routinely
wanders over to the couch, climbs up and then settles in, never
asking me where her biscuit is. And yet…
Every
night at bedtime, when treats are awarded as one of the puppies
heads into her crate, that same adorable dog is standing right
beside me. She doesn’t have to get into a crate like her sister.
She has house privileges. But she absolutely lets it be known
she’s expecting her biscuit at bedtime.
And
I think there’s a lesson in that for the nephew.
Don’t
complain when all that’s left is a French cruller when you wake
up if you never bothered to ask for a chocolate frosted. Say thank
you. (And make sure you’re ready to answer at bedtime.)