Play

T has no sense of play.

In my family, play is just a given. Mom still starts water fights in the kitchen (though, in her devious wisdom, she always hands a mop to a kid afterwards, and is good for another week...), and granny, at the tender age of 82, could still be found chasing my younger cousins around the farmyard with a hand-made elastic gun.

T doesn't do these things. For a guy who doesn't really want to grow up, he hasn't got much of a handle on how to stay a kid.

Yesterday was a birthday. One of T's nephews turned 2. The party included both of T's brothers, their wives, 5 kids between 6 years and 3 months, and T's parents. I hadn't met T's brothers, yet.

We did the introductions, then I escaped the scrutiny by taking the kids out to meet my dog, who loves little guys. Then we ate. Birthday cake and present opening followed. Then...

Then T's brothers brought out a slip'n'slide for the kids, perfect on a 30 degree day. T's mom started handing out water guns, too. The brothers trooped back inside and changed into swimsuits, and proceeded to show the little guys how it's done. I was wearing jeans, looking on jealously and sweating, but one of the kids shot me, and I 'died' so dramatically that I got hosed down pretty thoroughly.

T sat in the corner, trying to protect his camera from the spray.

T's mom was trying to get him to join his brothers, but he just wasn't into it. I may have discovered a natural ally, however; she stated that she would go if T did. I made big eyes at T and said that I would also go, jeans and all, if he and his mom went first. The pair of us badgered him until T rolled his eyes, took off his shirt, and did a half-hearted plunge at the slide. Then his mom and I went about five times each, while T returned to the corner.

I just don't get this. I'd have been the first one on that damned slide, if I weren't trying so hard not to embarass T in front of his family. Of course, I am finding them a little less reserved, lately, but still. He just doesn't know what to do with my silliness, and I don't know how to deal with his lack thereof...