Little Sisters aren't so bad

Which is a good thing when you essentially have 3 of them to deal with every morning.

We have a very great carpool going on. One of our neighbors has her kids at the same magnet school where the Misses go. We've worked it out so that one parent drives in the morning to drop the kids off and the other picks up in the afternoon, and we switch each week. It is working very nicely for the parents. The bonus is that the kids seem to get along pretty well, too. Win for everybody.

The fourth grader wasn't so sure at the beginning though. He is the oldest and the only boy in the car. There have been many mornings where he has plugged into his MP3 player or a handheld game and tried his best to tune out the 3 Kindergarten girls in the backseat. It doesn't always work as these girls can get LOUD. Lately that has been changing though. He and I have had some very good conversations, and he has been interacting with the girls more.

Granted, it started out with "Hey girls, let's play the Silent Game," but it has progressed to something more. Yesterday, we had a spelling bee. The fourth grader's sister wanted to know how to spell Monday and we were off. We spelled all of the days of the week then moved onto words like car and sat and all of the words that rhyme with them. And HE was giving the clues. I was ready to let the game go, but he kept asking them to spell words and offering hints.

I thought it was a one time thing, that he was just in an exceptionally good mood, but I was wrong. He had another idea up his sleeve today. I told him about Miss S and her Pilgum song, and it was on!

"S, sing your Pilgrim song for me."

"I don't remember it."

"Do you guys want to have a singing contest where you make up the songs. There will be prizes."

"YES!!!" Loudly and in unison

Each girl sang her song, and it was the moment of truth. How was he going to judge them? How was he going to have a winner without crushing the other two girls? What were the prizes?

I should not have doubted.

"You all won! Miss M won for the best song about love. Miss S won for the most creative song. And Sister M won for the best praise song. And the prize is ..... A trip to the orthodontist with me!"

And there were actually cheers from the backseat. Well, and from the front seat too. I was relieved. This kid, who keeps asking if we can trade girls, just made 3 little blondies very happy.

And you know what?

He kept doing it! We had 3 rounds of singing with 3 winners in totally different categories and different prizes each time. And the trip to school flew by. We all laughed and cheered together. It was a great start to the morning for all of us.

I do wonder what will happen tomorrow!