Rodney loves to trick people. He gets such a kick out of making someone think something other than the truth. This sounds like a negative trait, but it's really playful and even endearing...in an irritating sort of way. ;) I'm getting better at detecting it, but he still gets me from time to time. He gets much amusement out of tricking me, his co-workers and friends. It might be an entirely fabricated story, a prank or a creative answer to a simple question. It usually causes at least a mild upset or disappointment for the listener; otherwise, it wouldn't be worth his effort. Eventually, he tells the truth and gets such a kick out of the fact that he really had you going. It's absolutely maddening, but you're relieved that the truth is so much better than the lie, and you can't be angry with him for long. You have to smile back at him. You still want to smack him, but you will do so while smiling.
When I share one of his tricks with his Nannie Bette, she gets a knowing look on her face and looks accusingly to her husband. She says he is to blame for the trickster trait. Papaw Jack is sneaky too.
Apparently, there's a thrill in misleading someone into thinking that you've done something you were specifically asked not to do...or that something disappointing has happened. And then you eventually reveal the truth or, better yet, get to be there and see the look on their faces when they finally discover it for themselves. Haha!
The hilarity.
I have tried to get back at him a few times when I could think fast enough. I once told him that I bought a Kirby carpet shampooer from the door-to-door salesman who frequents our neighborhood. If you know how my husband is about money and how much those things cost, you see the potential here. So I really did let him come in and shampoo our carpet for free in exchange for listening to his pitch. I watched. Afterward, Rodney called to make sure I was strong. "But our vacuum wasn't doing a good job, babe. You should've seen how much dirt he got up after ours. And he came down a thousand dollars...."
And it was pretty funny.
Ethan, at the age of two, has already started practicing. While we were reading one of their books together, he told his first joke, played his first trick. He likes to name everything he sees in their books. It was the farm animal book that he knows so well. Even on the thirty-fifth time through the book, he's still excited about every one: "Horse! Cow! Chicken!" but this time, when we turned the page to the pig, he pointed, hesitated and said, "It's a.....HOUSE!" and he grinned and peered at me eagerly from the corner of his eye.
"That's not a house!" I dramatically said, and he laughed his most mischievous laugh. "That's a pig!" I said.
"No, it's a house!" he shrieked as he covered his mouth and giggled. He poked the pig again: "House!" It was his first attempt at humor. And it was funny. He was funny. We laughed and laughed. Silly boy. Ethan had stepped up his Name That Animal game. I was so proud. He kept repeating it for quite a while and I made sure to laugh every time.
The other night, I was struggling to brush his teeth as usual. He makes it so difficult with his screaming and struggling. I have to hold him down on the floor, gently of course, with his arms under my legs so my hands are free to hold his mouth and brush his teeth. I dodge his kicks toward my face and I calmly talk to him: "You gotta brush your teeth, bubba! Mommy wants you to have nice..., white teeth. You don't wanna have yellow teeth, do ya?" Just then, his eyes focused on mine and his phony cries became giggles. I ran with it. "Your teeth might turn yellow!"
"No!" he screamed through his laughter.
"And if you still don't brush your teeth, they might even turn green! and black!!" I said smiling.
"I don't want white! I want YELLOW teeth!" he yelled, "and green! and black!"
"No! Mommy wants you to have white teeth!"
"Yellow!" [hysterical laughter]
When we were all done, he ran all around the house saying that he wanted yellow and green and black teeth. Every time I brush his teeth and anytime he sees anyone brushing their teeth, it's the big joke now. "You have YELLOW teeth! Green!" Ha!
He grows more and more fond of falsities every day. It's in his blood...Son of Rodney, Prince of Pranks.
Our little Batman is a joker.
(Related Post: Little Fakers!)
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