The Rules

When I was a little girl, 3 years old, maybe 4, I wanted to run away from home.  I told my Mom, "I am running away from home."  She said, "Okay, but remember, you are not allowed to cross the street."  And so, I packed up my little backpack with all of my worldly possessions and headed off away from home.  "Bye, Emily," my Mom called after me.  "Remember not to cross the street!"

After what felt like hours to me, but in reality was probably more like 3-5 minutes later, my Mom came looking for me.  I was sitting on the corner of our street, pouting, having run as far away from home as I could go without disobeying my mother.

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The other day I looked up, and Will was playing with something that he shouldn't have been.  "Will," I said.  "Are you supposed to be playing with that?"  He looked at me, shook his head no, and handed it over to me.  He then proceeded to lay on the floor and lose his mind until he was distracted by some cheesy popcorn.

I told Tim this story later and remarked on Will's personality.  He is totally a rule-follower.  He doesn't like it, but he'll do it.  Oh, but you'll know that he doesn't like it all right.  He's very vocal about his displeasure.

"That's totally how I used to be," I laughed to Tim, thinking about the running away story.

"Used to be?!" scoffs Tim.  "That's exactly how you are now!"

That's my boy.