Two-Faced Tots

It goes without saying that (most of the time) kids act differently with their grandparents than with their parents. When they are with their grandparents they follow the rules, they rarely argue, and they are generally pleasant to be around. Usually. With their parents, well, not so much. To be honest, I missed out on this when I was a kid because my grandparents died when I was a baby/toddler. So, I didn't get the chance to get away with the grandparents for a while just to chill and relax...

My oldest son, however, gets that chance at least two or three times a year. Last week the boys were out of school for the entire week in honor of Presidents' Day and mandatory furlough days. So, he was gone for three days at his grandparents' house, which is two hours away. When we went to pick him up he did not want to come home. He was visibly disappointed. (To be honest, I think my youngest son was disappointed that his brother was coming home. :-)  On the drive home, he was surly, rude, and a general pain in the ass. The next day, he was surly, rude, and a pain in the ass. It took an attitude adjustment to straighten him out, but it was still annoying. We're obviously not as cool or as fun as grandma and grandpa, but we're not exactly ogres. Its times like this that I wonder why I can't just skip straight to grandparenthood.