I couldn’t stand for Tobias to have a “wasted” day at home, so I thought I’d spice it up a bit. I offered to teach him how to drive. That sure put a smile on his face. We headed for the cemetery, since it’s impossible to kill anyone there because they are already dead, anyway. He was a champ. I think he’s driven go-karts or electronic vehicles enough that he totally had the hang of it without much instruction. His first task was to back out of the driveway, and that is no easy thing. He didn’t even hit the fence or a single bush… Kory watched him go, and took note of the condition of the car, sure it wouldn’t come back the same. It did. Tobias was careful, respectful and obedient. He did everything I told him to do and didn’t mess up once. I was so impressed. Somehow I thought he had driven before, but he hadn’t, so this was a big day for him.
After he drove the car home again, he washed it and we went for another little drive down our street a ways. It was a risky move, but I could tell it wouldn’t be a problem as he drove so well. He smiled the whole time. I was happy about that. Kaleb wanted to drive too, but I told him when he’s as respectful and obedient as Tobias, then I’ll teach him. I can see just by the way they both drive the riding lawn mower, Kaleb will be a bit more challenging to teach. He likes to weave back and forth and have FUN in the process, Tobias is all business. He’s a safe bet; Kaleb, not so much.
So after that thrill for the day, we had to deal with the heat. It was hotter today than normal – a whopping ninety degrees in the sun. I tried to get some weeding and watering done, but every time I bent over, my butt provided an irresistible target and it somehow got wet. My underwear never dried out the entire day. The boys had just too much fun squirting me with water guns and/or the hose. I would have preferred getting a little more yard work done, but on such a day as this, a water fight was fine, too. Kory just busied himself yelling at us to keep the water away from his tools as he was working on building a new door for Kaleb’s treehouse (the second story door was too small for adults to fit through). He seemed rather crabby for such a lovely day.
After we all were so wet it just wasn’t fun anymore squirting each other, we changed clothes and headed into town. I had some errands to run so I dropped the boys off at the laser tag/ go-kart track. I paid for them to have unlimited use of the place, but unfortunately, they were about the only ones in there most of the time, so even that place was boring after a while. I stayed and watched them drive go-karts and true to form, Tobias was in total control of his vehicle, going around fast, but never wiping out. Kaleb on the other hand, was never IN control. He went so fast around the corners he spun out and ended up going backwards. He hit the guard rails time and time again and nearly crashed into Tobias (but Tobias managed to avoid him.) It made me all the more concerned for his future days as a driver, so it might be a while before HE gets behind the wheel of a car.
The boys suckered me into staying for one round of laser tag and it would have been more fun if my gun would have been working right. I must have been “killed” a thousand times, which didn’t hurt my body, but my pride took a beating as I saw the big smiles on their faces when they were doing it.
Kaleb was fairly bratty today with Tobias, picking fights and smacking him for no reason. With my blessing, Tobias let him have it. He cried a couple times because he was hurt, but then he tried to manipulate Tobias with his words, since he obviously couldn’t win with sheer body strength. At one point Kaleb told him that I was getting irritated with Tobias and I probably wouldn’t let his family use our white van to drive to San Francisco. What a whopper of a tale that was. He also told Tobias that he hated him. The kid was desperate. He knew he was losing the battle to control Tobias, so he came crying to me that his whole summer has been ruined by having Tobias here. He even told me he was sure that Tobias was so bored he wanted to go back to Norway. It was kind of funny (except that he was lying) to hear what he came up with, trying desperately to be in control. I finally had a little talk with him, made him apologize to Tobias for all the things he said, and then he asked for forgiveness. Immediately they were friends again. I think we are finally breaking through that selfish armor of his and I’m hoping for a “new and improved” Kaleb by the time Tobias leaves (or we might need to keep him here a little longer, perhaps.) I do feel badly for Tobias though, as I’m sure this isn’t what he signed up for when he said he wanted to come to America. But then, learning to drive probably wasn’t on the list either. We gotta take the good with the bad.
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