My kids and notes: Year 11
April 22, 2026
Life with JB
I was hugely frustrated with a situation that JB described from school recently. One of the boys who thinks he’s so funny was pulling stupid pranks during class again and when their classmates ask them to knock it off because it’s distracting, their only response is a “Why?” So the kids have to escalate to the teachers when it becomes unbearable, and then the little twit then turns on them: “why are you always tattling all the time?”
Why are you always a pain in the ass, Joker-wannabe?? I told JB that this kid was entitled and manipulative trying to turn this into a them-problem rather than admitting their actions are what earned them the teacher’s attention. What chapped my ass even more was that the kid didn’t even get in trouble. They were just told to stop the behavior. That’s it. There was literally no consequence for being disruptive, and they were still so outraged at having to stop, and having that boundary enforced eventually by someone in authority, that they tried to frame this to be about the kids who want the disruptions to stop. This is the early framework of toxic entitlement bullshit that leads boys and men to think that their rights are being infringed when they’re simply told to NOT to mistreat people. UGH. (I shared this story with PiC and he was equally incensed.)
We had a long talk about how we don’t let the people who cause the problems in the first place to frame our setting boundaries as the problem. Nope.
Life with Smol Acrobat
I don’t know what brought this on but for 24 glorious (for JB) hours, Smol Acrobat was their devoted servant. Every time JB was told to do something, SmolAc would pop up like a minor Alfred: JB I can do that for you! I can do it!
They’d even race from different rooms to come offer their assistance at top volume. I CAN DO YOUR JOB FOR YOU, JB, I CAN! Ended exactly 24 hours later. So weird.
This does coincide with an uptick in their general helpfulness lately. They’re usually too busy playing to want to be pulled away to help with cooking and things but now they occasionally volunteer or agree happily to come lend a hand when asked. I had wondered if they would be perpetually an unhelpful grump and hope this represents a long term change.
I’ve been expanding their responsibilities more: they help with my pill organizer now (this was their idea), they take things out to the recycling, they’ve been offering to clean up the living room and properly putting everything away instead of just haphazardly piling them into a corner. That makes a really nice change.
Precious Moments
SmolAc: I want a tree. I want it to be the TALLEST TREE in the world! And it will have apples on it because I WUV apples.
Me: But if it’s so tall, then how would you pick the apples?
SmolAc: It’s as tall as Daddy! He can pick dem.