July 20, 2004 - Tuesday
For about two weeks now the boys have been using the term "Mr. Grumps" in the context of being silly. It apparently started one night in the bath when Jeremy was in a snit about something or other and his mother said that he was being or acting like "Mr. Grumps." I never heard whether it made him laugh that evening, but it sure is funny now and it's something that he and Harry often say when they are fooling around.

I suppose if that were it, there wouldn't be too much to think about. But, I get this awkward feeling that the silliness is not so random, but rather that maybe "Mr. Grumps" is me and they are laughing about it. That's because they often start saying it at times like when they are supposed to be getting ready for dinner. Their mother or I would have told them several times to get come to the kitchen, to wash their hands, to help with the silverware, and to get into their seats and typically one of us will have raised our voice at least a little. So, we get mad at them and they only get sillier and start joking back and forth to each other about "Mr. Grumps."

So, who is "Mr. Grumps"? They never look at me when they say it, but it sure feels like they are making fun of me, or mommy. Are they old enough to be making fun of us? They're not really being rude, but perhaps they are being irreverent. The most awkward part is that I don't really can't tell. But, they are obviously sharing some kind of joke between themselves and I get the feeling that it's at my expense. And, there really isn't anything I can do about it, except try to ignore it, both to not encourage them and to not think too much about this being the first of years more of this kind of thing getting progressive worse.


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