Pretend Fighting

I played pretend catch with Big this morning. You know, with a pretend ball. Big pretends I throw it fast sometimes. Other times he pretends that I threw it slowly, or that I threw it way up in the air and he has to wait for it to come down as he looks skyward. 


The best part of playing pretend catch is that no one ever throws it wildly or misses the catch. Unless you pretend it, that is. The possibilities are endless. 


Anyway, Big and I were playing and having a grand time-- until Bud decided he wanted to join in on the fun. It must have looked like we were having such a ball that he decided he wanted to be part of it. Big told Bud "no" when he asked if he could play, and no amount of persuading on my part could get him to throw the pretend ball Bud's way. 


Well, Bud started pretend catching the "ball" anyway, making Big feel as though his  extremely accurate fake toss was actually errant in its path, and possibly making Big feel as though his pretending personal space was being encroached upon. He yelled at Bud, "I told you you can't play catch with us!" But, Bud continued on in his provoking ways, once again catching the "ball" that Big threw.


Big then leapt upon Bud and beat the crap out of him to retrieve the "ball". I found myself laughing in disbelief that my boys were physically fighting over ownership of something that didn't truly exist, gripping one another's hands, pulling back and forth, trying to wrest a non-existent ball from the other's grasp. It was surreal. 


After it happened more than once, and no amount of rational talk would get the boys to stop, I copped the excuse that all mothers everywhere use when they need some space--


"I have to go to the bathroom."


The diversion worked. They started playing pretend catch with their dad while I was gone. All three of them. 


Hmmm. Maybe it wasn't the "ball" that they didn't want to share, but their Mommy. 


Awwww. They love me!