Vignettes on Yelling

Why do I keep posting these entries of “vignettes”?  Because these are bits too long for Tweeting – I just can’t get them down to 140 characters.  But I feel that a blog post under 200 hundred words is kind of cheating (unless there is a really cool video – cool pictures on their own don’t count with the advent of Instagram.)  So that just me.

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GoofBoy is going away to sleepaway camp next week.  He will be gone for four weeks, and this is his first year.  He has some trepidation, but is excited.  He is in a bunk with a bunch of his buddies who are vets.  He will have a blast.

Since this is his last weekend home before he goes away Mama Goof and I decided to let him choose what to have for dinner.

“Come downstairs please,” Mama Goof called.

Naturally GoofBoy did not hear her because he was too busy watching a video about Giga Pudding on his new Kindle Fire.

“GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!” I bellowed.

GoofBoy ran downstairs, his eyes wide.

“Wha…what?” he asked.

“Since you are going away next week, I was going to let you pick dinner for tomorrow night,” Mama Goof explained.

“That’s what you wanted, why did you scream at me?  I thought I was in trouble.”

I started laughing.

“Grrrr!” GoofBoy yelled as he jumped on me.  

It’s okay, we have four weeks of wrestling to get out of our system.

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The little Goofs have not adapted to their new camp schedules, with a later leave time.  Instead they wake up early and watch the Giga Pudding video (it is pretty catchy…)  MamaGoof and I have readily adapted and enjoy our extra 20 minutes of sleep in the morning.

This morning as we tried to stay awake as Garrison Keilor droned on, we heard the little Goofs shouting at each other.  I went to make peace, which I did, and returned to bed.

“What was up with them?” MamaGoof asked.

“I dunno,” I replied.

“I just heard you talking to them, what did they say?”

“I dunno, I asked them what was wrong.  They said some stuff, then I asked if they had had breakfast.  Then they went and made themselves breakfast.”

“But what were they fighting over?”

“Who cares?  I really find things go easier if I don’t pay too much attention.  It’s like when Ecuador and Peru have a boundary dispute.  You let them sound off for a while and then you mention trade policy.”

As soon as I mention something that has to do with international affairs, MamaGoof’s eyes glaze over.   

My approach has multiple applications.