I'm Moving Out!

     Page Twenty-One.
     I started watching the three princes (and one princess) in February, 2010. At the time they were 6,8,10 and 16. The princess is now down at Ohio State but the three princes continue to make my life interesting.
     The youngest, Fauntleroy, took to me rather quickly as he does with most people. I'm a youngest too, so I tend to know what makes us tick. We're an interesting breed. We're just so used to crowds that even when we say we want to be alone, we don't actually mean it.  
     About a year after I started... let me back up. The summer after I began, Fauntleroy began asking if he could move in with me. One day, he even told his mother that he was moving in with me. I politely replied by asking him who would take care of his mother if he moved out. (His mom was finishing her fellowship in Oncology. She needed taking care of.) I also told him that when I'm at home by myself I'm really quite boring. (Not super true, but whatever.) So he did have a history of wanting to move out. This, in spite of the fact that his middle brother is his best friend, he likes his oldest brother, he ADORES the princess, he just loves Grandma (who lives with him) and he squirms with glee when he sees his mom and dad. I think that I just paid him so much attention that he didn't know how to contain his excitement. So the best way he could express his feelings of comfort with me were by saying he wanted to move in with me.
     Okay... about a year after I started, he got upset at his brothers. Really upset. And I think it was over something ridiculous, like someone took his book or something like that. He just began crying and carrying on like there was no tomorrow. This was minutes prior to my quitting time. I interceded and straightened out the situation. He then apologized to them for loosing his head. But then, when they didn't respond to his apology and offer up their own dubious apologies he lost it again. Oy Rebbenish Allelim! So it was time for me to leave. I decided that Grandma needed to earn her keep so she could deal with her three darlings.  
     When I got ready to leave though, Faunt announced that this time he REALLY was moving out and in with me. I put on a boot and he put on a boot. I put on a scarf and he put on a scarf. When I walked out the door, he walked out the door. You get the idea. While I was opening up the passenger door in my car to let him into the back seat, his best friend did open up the house door and yell to me wondering where I was taking him. I walked back and quietly said we'd be back in a few minutes as I was taking him around the block. He seemed satisfied and closed the door.
     So we drove around the block. Thankfully, it's a big block. We talked. We talked. We talked.We talked. When we were about halfway around the block, he asked where we were going. I said we were driving around the block. "Oh." We continued talking. I reminded him how much everybody loved him and how lucky he was to have so many people care for him and watch out for him. You know... all the usual stuff.
     When we arrived back in his driveway, he bounded out of the car and bounced with glee back into the house. I just left. Sometimes I'm not paid the going rate for a child psychologist.
     Later that week, I asked Mom if she knew about this situation. She had no idea. It wasn't important enough to any of the principles to tell her.