Oh, Johnny!

Remember how much I've moaned and groaned about having kids too close together?  Remember my panic at having two babies at the same time?

Well, that was legitimate.  It kind of sucked and was really really hard.

But my pay back has come.  Times a million.

Michael and Lily are the best of friends.  This is aided not only by their close age, but also by the fact that Michael is a complacent, easy-going guy willing to be bossed around by his sister.  They play happily together for hours on end...as long as big brother doesn't try and mix in.  But let's leave irritating, play-ending Andrew out of this for a moment.  If I can distract Andrew away from them or he is absent for another reason, they often just disappear into their own pretend world.  They play family or school or cats or alligators or they go on a trip or they cook up something magical in their restaurant.

Really, the games are quite varied.  But there seems to be a common thread:  Johnny.

If they are playing kitchen, you might hear this:
"Hey, Michael, who spilled this soup all over the floor?"
-exaggerated sigh- "It was Johnny!"

If they are playing alligators, you might hear this:
"Oh, no!  Michael!  Look what Johnny ate!"

If they are playing school, you might hear this:
"Okay, class.  It's time to go outside to play for a while."
"But Johnny just pushed me!"
"No, Johnny!  You are bad!  Time out chair!"

And on and on.  Johnny is the evil-doer in all their games.  I don't know where the name came from, but it is friggin' hilarious to listen in on their play and always hear them berating little Johnny for his misdeeds.

Damn Johnny.

(as a side note, annoying big brother happens to be Andrew JOHN...so perhaps the name comes from something after all...)