This afternoon I went to pick up the kids at the after school club.
Normally the door there is open, but today it was closed. Rather than knocking, I just opened it and went in.
BIG mistake. It was closed for a reason.
I stuck my head in the door, just in time to intercept a red-paint-filled styrofoam cup with my right cheek. Followed by a kid screaming "Hey Craig! I nailed your dad!"
A paint fight (water-based paints, mercifully) had broken out, and the teenagers running the show were hopelessly outnumbered.
The kids looked like a multicolored racial variant from "Avatar".
I drove home with my (very colorful) tribe.
My car seats look like a bag of Skittles. I'll deal with them over the weekend.
All kids got thrown in the shower.
We're having an unscheduled laundry night.
Just wait until Mrs. Grumpy gets home.
This is why having several towels stashed in the trunk is a good idea.
ReplyDeleteDon't be too hard on them. It was the most fun they have had all week.
ReplyDeleteScore! I thought I was the only one who says "Calgon, take me away" [and being met with a blank look every time].
ReplyDelete--HollyD
It was probably a safer form of play than what we used to do in the USAF 30 years or so ago, when I worked the late shift.
ReplyDeleteMy colleagues and I would have squirt gun fights, but the squirt guns that we used were high pressure hoses, filed with kid safe compounds such as Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Carbon Tetrachloride, and the stuff used to clean residue out of 20mm Vulcan cannon gunbarrels. Some of that stuff would dissolve hornets in mid flight.
We would spray each other from across the bay of our section, trying to score direct hits. And none of that sissy safety gear for us. We only wore that stuff when working.
I hope that Mrs. Grumpy wasn't too angry with your kids. It sounds as if it was fun...
PAINT fight?? You're a better parent than me, I wouldn't have let them in the car.
ReplyDeleteDon't you just love how the people you pay to take care of your children do that?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if your car seats needed defrenchfying , this is a darn good excuse.
oh.my.god. I'm with the other anonymous; they would be walking home or staying there longer until I drove home, then returned with lots of old towels.
ReplyDeleteyou need to get a refund for that day
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!! Maybe we should do that at work one day.... hmmmmm.....
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun! Poor teenagers.
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun to me, too! Still, it should have been coordinated in advance with the parents so they could prepare for painted children.
ReplyDeleteBetter than drinking, which leaves colorful STINKY stuff on your backseat...
ReplyDeleteYou need to buy a Honda Element. The interior is all plastic and able to be hosed out.
ReplyDeleteWe sometimes used to pelt each other with leftover raw meat scraps before we'd hose the butcher shop down at the end of the day. Raw ground beef is tough to get out of your ear if somebody scores a direct hit. I think I like the paint idea better.....
ReplyDeleteIn more civilized societies, they use PAINTBALL GUNS for this purpose. Which reminded me of the time I came back from a kayak paddle told my son that I had seen 4 bears near where he was paintballing the previous day. "Oh, yeah, we saw them too-the mother limps right ? " I said yes. He then went on to tell me that they made everyone come off the field cause the bears were running around with the players. Have your kids take up paintball.
ReplyDeleteI hope you meant that THEY will deal with the car seats over the weekend.
ReplyDeleteI am rolling around on the ground about the bears and the paintball. I used to do paintball and it was a blast, but I got some rather un-lady-like bruises from it. However, the strap from my Dooney and Bourke handbag made an excellent strap for my paintball gun. Water-proof and stylish!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter just turned 7 and got many artistic gifts. She goes to an after-school program called ArtCare so I took the paint spinner and Moon Sand there so she can make a mess with people paid to clean it up. I'd rather clean up the paint than that damn Moon Sand.
I hope the paint is water soluble!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that whilst I was working as a camp counselor, that was the best way to get kids who refused to take a shower to cooperate, but I suppose that I was the only one who had to deal with the paint-soaked aspect. :P I would have at least given you some cellophane to wrap the car seats in!
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine how much better work would be if we could all take an afternoon and paint fight with each other? Although I do believe our patients might have issues with it.
ReplyDelete