Thing 3 was more interested in the dirt on the ground than the animals.

So, with Thing 1 leading the way, he and Thing 2 set out to clean the basement. They may even have told me first. I don’t remember, they tell me a lot of stuff.  SuburbanMommy was enjoying her Mothers Day outside the house, so I had my hands full.   I’m not sure what they were doing, I was just glad they weren’t fighting.  I assumed cleaning the basement meant what it always had until that point, which consisted of picking up all the toys and balls and other stuff.

A little while later, I spotted Thing 2 on his way to the basement. He was wearing goggles and had a roll of paper towels. His socks were soaking wet.

Me: “What are you guys doing down there?”

Thing 2: “We’re cleaning”

It was time to take a look.  With Thing 4 in my arms, I went to the basement to check out this cleaning operation.  I found the basement carpet was wet.  Really wet.  There were puddles of water on the floor in the bathroom.  Several towels were soaking wet.  They were wetting the towels, then carrying them, dripping wet, to parts of the basement to “clean” them.  How adorable.  To be more efficient, Thing 1 instructed Thing 2 to use the other sink at the wet bar.  Now there were two sources of puddles on the floor.

Let’s look at the bright side. They were trying to help. How often does that happen? They were also working together without fighting. That’s a good thing.  After using nearly an entire roll of paper towels to soak up the water, I asked:

“Is there anything else you cleaned I should know about?”

“No.” Then he thought about it. “Yes.”

“What?”

“The pillows”

They had taken the pillows from the couch and held them under the water in the sink to wash them.  Then put them back on the couch.   Adorable.

I get the concept. Give kids an idea what their parents do all day. But that’s hardly what happened yesterday. Thing 1 had a day packed with fun activities and kids programs.

After a breakfast spread of cereals, fruit, and juice boxes, we had a kickoff speaker/pep rally for the hundreds of kids ages 6-12 that were attending.

Then the activities started. More than a dozen to choose from, I had pre-registered Thing 1 and me for five 45 minute sessions including an outdoor obstacle course and kickball, planting flowers for earth day, art projects, a scavenger hunt, and tour of the video studio. In between there was an all you can eat lunch buffett and ice cream party. Then a choice of two movies at the end of the day.

At no point did I engage in normal work day activities. I assure you a typical day for me does not include coloring. The kids did get to observe some work, I guess, if you count the people with no kids who were at their desks trying to work amidst the constant parade of kids asking which activity we’re doing next.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 were discussing football on the way to school one morning. It’s about all they discuss these days.

Look, there’s a red car…they must like the Chiefs. Or, it’s 7:49. 49ers!

On this particular morning, Thing 2 said his friend, we’ll call him Bobby, doesn’t know anything about football. Bobby probably doesn’t know about football since he is 4 years old and doesn’t have the, uh, benefit of a big brother who is obsessed with the topic.

Thing 1 got very upset. He was on the verge of tears. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Why did you say that!? Bobby is your BEST friend. Why would you say he doesn’t know anything about football?”

Apparently, in Thing 1’s football circle of friends, this is the meanest possible insult to someone. Even worse than the “your mom” classics I remember from when I was about that age.

Before moving in together, Thing 1 and Thing 2 had different personalities, routines, and interests. Thing 1 liked to recite sports statistics, go to sleep early with the lights off, and he was generally serious and reserved. Thing 2 liked imagination play, regularly having conversations with his dragons and toys for a good hour in his bed before finally falling asleep with the lights on.

From what I’ve seen in just a few weeks each is becoming more like the other. It’s like instead of a Thing 1 and Thing 2, we now have two Thing One-And-A-Half’s. Some of this merging into Thing 1.5 has been a good influence. Thing 2 is now more interested in reading, sports (good for me), and other interests and abilities like his big brother. And Thing 1 has become more imaginative and shows a sillier side. Surprisingly, they have become even more inseparable. I honestly don’t know how they don’t get tired of each other.

But, we also have a spreading of the not so good habits. They now both stay up late and play in their room to the point where we need to go up at least 3 times a night to tell them to quiet down and go to sleep. What used to be a very organized and orderly bedroom under just the management of Thing 1, has evolved into the just put everything on the floor system favored by Thing 2.

All in all, it’s been a net positive outcome. Which I have to say was an unexpected, very pleasant surprise.

In case you can’t pick out the Things, here are some clues. Thing 1 is strategically positioned between the two girls and loving it. Thing 2 is the kid who jumps up and waves “Daddy!” when he walks into the room. And Thing 3, well, you won’t miss him. He is the center of attention as always.

But we adults know the true test of any partnership is to put your money where your mouth is. Go into business with someone or buy something together and you’ll learn the true nature of your relationship.

That’s exactly what happened yesterday. Thing 1 desparately wanted to get Wii football. But he didn’t have enough allowance saved. So I suggested he see if Thing 2 would put up half the money. Together they had enough to cover the cost. We counted out the cash and took a trip to Target.

So far so good. They are taking turns playing. And they’ve learned a valuable lesson in how money works.

We’ll just see what happens when one of them gets tired of football and wants to trade it in for another game, but the other partner doesn’t want to sell. So one has to buy out the other’s share. But he won’t have the cash up front so there will be a payment plan, financing, and maybe collections for delinquent payments. I can see Thing 3 as the debt collector muscle. “Pay me now or I will hit you with this Buzz Lightyear”