Conner

This is one of our 4 grandsons, Conner. Conner is the third-born of our six grandchildren and he is a handful, to say the least!

To begin with, he's definitely all BOY! Conner will be five in July and I believe he is a fairly typical five year-old boy.

He is usually loud, he's full of energy, he loves to build things, loves to take things apart, loves to "help" his daddy with man-type chores like changing the oil, etc.

We've recently come to realize that Conner apparently skipped the "Terrible Two" stage of his life and saved it all up for the "Terrible Almost-Five" stage!


Now don't get me wrong. Conner is a good boy - when he wants to be. He can be sweet, he can be loving, he can be quiet, he can be helpful.

Again, when he wants to be.

Which, these days, isn't very often.


He is in pre-school and lately he has been coming home from school with notes from his teacher. Notes that say things like, "Conner forgot his inside voice today"; "Conner didn't follow instructions today".


Hmmmmm, sounds familiar! I remember bringing home a few notes like that back in my day!


A few weeks ago Conner and his big sister Kaleigh were arguing at home. As punishment, his mom and dad decided to make the two of them stand face-to-face and hug each other for two minutes.

Pretty good idea, I thought!

After all, nothing else seemed to be working. You can lecture him; yell at him; give him the parental "evil-eye"; pull him aside and speak quietly to him; swat his little bottom, etc. And he will stand there and look at you like you've got three eyes.


So maybe the hugging method might work!


Kaleigh didn't mind it at all - she thought it was fun! Conner, on the other hand, didn't like it one little bit. The last thing a five year-old boy wants to be forced to do is hug his big sister!





Now, in Conner's defense, he's also dealing with a BRAND NEW little sister who arrived on the scene about six months ago. So not only does he have a seven year-old sister, he now has a brand new baby in the house who is suddenly getting a LOT of attention!

That makes Conner the middle child.

I am also a middle child and I'm all too aware of what middle children are like. We are typically the outcast, the rebel, the risk-taker, the attention-seeker, the trouble-maker. Right, Mom and Dad??

Boy, do I feel sorry for Conner's mom and dad !


Until next time....