One of these things is totally like the other

Sometimes Boy 2 is so much like his father that they actually have the same catastrophes within a short period of time. For example, one Wednesday, I get a yell-call from PHD about five minutes after the start of Boy 2's gymnastics class, "WHERE IS THE FREAKING GYM?"  What? You mean the gym he has been attending for three years?  I can hear Boy 2 yelling in the background, "Why didn't Mom just take me?".

So the following Monday morning I had to work and PHD kindly offered to get the kids to school.  At 9 am I get a call from a sobbing Boy 2.  "Mom, I tried to ride my bike to school and I got lost! Can you come home?" I find out slowly that PHD isn't there but his phone and wallet are so I assume he isn't too far away.  After about five minutes of chaos (not long by MacFuddle standards) PHD arrives back home and takes Boy 2 to school.  PHD doesn't think it is at all strange that Boy 2 can get lost on his way to school even though we have lived in this house and gone to the same school for over three years. I am ready to get a brain scan on both of them.

After a series of befuddled incidents like these over the course of a couple of weeks, I found myself very near my limit one Friday on our way to the garden show.  I was pondering my personal theory that the secret of a successful marriage is having high tolerance to irritation.  What if my irritation barrier was broken?  We are all in trouble. The next time there are crumbs on the counter or socks on the deck, someone will get beaten with my swiffer. We walked through the very busy parking lot, me pondering, Boy 2 doing cartwheels and PHD nearly race-walking way ahead of us, like he usually does.  I was just about to yell at him, "Hey Prince William, do you need to walk so far ahead of us?" in my o-so-attractive screechy voice  when it happened.  Boy 2 cartwheeled onto his feet in time to watch PHD walk directly into the hitch of a truck.  Boing.  His knee even made a cartoon noise. The contact with the truck spun him in a circle. Boing. Good thing he didn't hurt himself because Boy 2 was nearly on the pavement laughing at him. It was pretty funny to me, especially the thought that for Boy 2, being so much like his father, it's like witnessing your own future...Before he knows it he'll be making his own Boing noise...Now in my head I just have to think "Boing" my irritation barrier is strengthened.  It's like a super power. I can't explain it and probably shouldn't even try.