You know that whole argument men have with their wives about safety? The one where you say you want to have your son or daughter wrapped in knee pads, elbow pads, and every other kind of pad before they get on the ever-so-dangerous contraption known as a bicycle but your husband says that skinned knees are part of growing up and they need to learn how to handle that kind of thing? The Shubin clan are kind of a rowdy bunch and fall very much into the trampoline-with-no-giant-net-around-it crowd. I grew up in the Shaw family, which is somewhat less rowdy. You can probably tell where this is headed.

At our house, George started doing his human roller coaster impression with Georgie before he was a year old (I don’t remember when exactly, but somewhere close to as soon as Georgie’s neck was strong enough). Up and down and all around, up in the air and down low my tiny baby went. Aaack!

Naturally, my first inclination was to tell him to knock that off post-haste; but then I noticed that both of them were laughing away and seemed to be utterly enjoying this daredevil behavior. Crazy Y chromosomes! Clearly this must be some form of weird, manly, paternal bonding. It makes no sense whatsoever to me, but I’m willing to admit the possibility that there are other forms of bonding out there than the mushy, smooshy-kiss Mommy kind.

So being the calm, mild, and demure wife that I am (stop laughing), whenever they would start this game I’d retire to the kitchen so I could enjoy listening to them having so much fun while not having to see what was actually producing all that wild giggling. Then Trinity came along and she was a much quieter baby than Georgie was. Surely this rough-housing stuff wouldn’t be her dainty little cup of tea. Errr, wrong. Before I knew it, George was off tossing her all over the living room and now all three of them were laughing away like a bunch of nutsos.

Add a few more kids (all girls, of course) and now we have the most fearless children in the state. Hmm. His guy philosophy may have something to it. When we went to Disneyland in April, Georgie’s favorite ride was the aptly named Screamer, which takes you upside down. He’s almost eight. Trinity (age 6) liked every ride that was fast, even the ones in the dark. Anika hated practically everything until she got to Splash Mountain, which she loved and went on numerous times. That’s the log ride where they drop you over a 52 foot high waterfall at 40mph.

So what does all this have to do with moving, you may wonder? A valid question indeed. Quick mathematical computation for you: crazy Husband + crib mattress + stairs + crazy children = what? Lots of prayer, a mere two minutes of tears, and this:

George is the cameraman for the first part and then Georgie takes over. Nice of him to watch and film his sister as she tumbles down the stairs right in front of him, don’t you think? That’s Anika (age 4) who gets thrown by the bucking stairwell, but that’s also her immediately afterward going down with Handsome Hubby. Looks scary on the video though!

The kids spent the entire rest of the day sliding down the stairs, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I don’t think Anika actually went again. She’s not quite strong enough to hold the mattress up in front (as is obvious from the video). Who knew packing could be so much fun? Ahhh, isn’t parenting grand? If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen.

Rachel

Written by Rachel Shubin ~ Fiendish friend for effusive fun!