Furple Pinches

Two Prefaces to this Post:
1) The photos above were actually taken just a few days before the camera died. But they could easily be from this morning's breakfast~~
2) The boys' imaginary friend, June (click here), has been waxing and waning these days. Sometimes she's with us at many moments of a day, sometimes we'll go for long stretches of days without ever hearing mention of her. She seems to be there when they need her and gone when they don't... and there's no telling when they might need her~~

This morning Braydon had to leave for work early. I was sitting at the kitchen table with Kyle and Owen, the three of us eating our breakfast. From the table you can see through large glass doors directly outside to the deck and a large birdfeeder. We have tons of beautiful birds in this part of Pennsylvania. K & O have been really into bird watching this winter, and they particularly like identifying the different kinds of birds they see. Their favorite are the bright red cardinals-- "CARD NULL!!!" they shout wildly. "Card null! Card null! Card null!" This morning the boys were making a big commotion of the fact that we were "ALL eating our breakfast!" (i.e., the three of us at the table and all the birds flocking to the birdfeeder). By halfway through our breakfast, though, still no cardinals were to be seen. So, in typical K & O fashion, rather than dwell on the disappointment, they cheerily and snappily moved right on-- "Oh man! No card nulls today! Maybe another day!!!" And then the real riot began... It was onward in the birdwatching... to the "FURPLE PINCHES!!!!!!!!!! Furple pinches! Furple pinches! Furple pinches!!!" You'd think they were watching their favorite episode of their Curious George videos-- the excitement and exuberance were that extreme. In truth it really was quite spectacular-- it was like a purple finch feeding frenzy at the birdfeeder this morning. I interrupted their "Furple Pinches" proclamations to say to them, "Yes PPPurple FFFinches! Look! So many Purple Finches!" (i.e., doing what you're supposed to do with preschool age children -- not 'correcting' them but simply repeating and enunciating the right pronunciation). This stopped them dead in their tracks. Stone faced and silent they stared at me as though I had just committed a serious infraction. All serious now, the thrill all gone, Owen says to me, exaggeratedly: "FFFurple PPPinches." Silence. Both of them still staring me right in the face. I said, calmly, "Yes, Purple Finches!" Kyle then cocks his head, turns and looks at Owen and says: "Owen, look, June likes Furple Pinches too!!!" And now it was not just two against one, but three against one. One thing I've learned over the past three years is to choose my battles. I quietly smiled at the two of them and then took another bite of my cereal. And at that K & O (and presumably June too), carried on, slap-happy, and as fun-loving and feisty as ever~~ "FURPLE PINCHES!!!!!!!!!! Furple pinches! Furple pinches! Furple pinches eating their breakfast just like we're eating our breakfast!!!!! We just loooooove furple pinches!!!"