Destroy The House

I came across this draft blog post from a few years ago.  Riley is now eight:

My four-year-old son Riley, is quite a riot. He is tough as nails, with a very tender heart. It is difficult to know what goes on inside his little head, but it borders somewhere between the sweetest little boy on earth and a child destined for the special forces.

The other day he invented a game called "chase." The game consists of running around the ottoman and having someone chase you. This is apparently an endurance game, as I have played "Chase" on occasion for seven-plus minutes and Riley has given no indication that the game was coming to an end. And yes, I consider any activity in which I move for seven consecutive minutes "endurance."

Recently, while Cheryl practiced the piano, Riley attempted to recruit her to play the game. She politely replied that she would be glad to play when she was finished practicing the piano. Apparently this answer was not good enough as he replied, "Mom, if you don't play chase with me...I will destroy this house."

Mom played chase.

It is quite easy to figure out what makes kids tick when you look at the situation from afar. It is when you are in the thick of child-rearing that you tend to make bad decisions. Riley wanted attention one way or the other. The only difference, is this time he gave us a glimpse into his thought process....endurance chases and demolition.  Special forces indeed.