grandma's chuckles - "He Cheats Because He is Three"

I love remembering the things my grandsons said and did when they were younger - today I'm remembering a time nine years ago when they were at my house and they wanted me to make a hide-out in the living room for them, so I grabbed some chairs and blankets and made it. They were sitting in their hide-out with my oldest grandson who was six at the time listing all the "rules" for the game he wanted to play, but my youngest grandson who was then three was just busy playing. All of a sudden, my oldest grandson hit his brother on the head and said, "He is cheating! He is cheating! He isn't following the rules!"

My younger grandson came and sat in my lap for snuggling and sympathy and I had my older grandson come and sit in a chair next to us. My oldest grandson told me, "He was cheating! He can never play with me again!" I told him his brother was not cheating; he was just three and he may not have even been listening to the rules and probably did not know them. My older grandson said, "But he was cheating! He was cheating!" I told him his brother was three and was not cheating and he could not hit his brother. I then asked him if he really never wanted to play with his little brother again.

He looked at his younger brother, told him he was sorry - my younger grandson told his brother he forgave him - and then they ran off to play once again; my older grandson stopped, turned back to look at me and said, "Now I know he cheats because he is three!"

The perspective of a six year old! These boys make my heart happy!