I'm the Guest

 

We had planned the weekend for a while, and Sam had requested pizza and homemade ice cream for dinner and living room tent-sleeping for the rest of the night.  So I loaded the refrigerator with goodies and pulled the tent out of the closet and prepared myself for a long night of craziness and children who had no interest in sleeping.  What I got instead was an evening of delight and wonder, starting with the barefoot children running bases at "the school bus park" and ending with two boys reading an animal sticker book by flashlight before they collapsed next to each other, both of them clad in Spiderman PJ's.

Sammy's best buddy is perhaps the easiest child on the planet, a sweet smiling boy with a mop of white blond hair and an aversion to shoes or socks or coats.  He was happy to be at our house and excited about everything.  And when he and Sam disagreed for the first time I told Sam that Espn got to choose because he's the guest.

"Just like from Mike the Knight," Sam said.

As the youngest of five Espn was thrilled to actually have the decision power in his hands so when we had to decide what kind of ice cream to make and whether to play with Lego or Trio and whether to play baseball or ride bikes, he played the guest card.  "Sam, I'm the guest," he would remind us.  Sam didn't mind.  His best buddy (who Eva, by the way, adores) was there for the whole night!  What a great way to spend a Friday.

This video is dark for about 20 seconds, but after that the flashlight comes on and we get to hear Espn remind us who the guest is.  So dang cute.