A Little Boy With the Bird Book Tucked Under His Arm

I have a funny story to tell. There is a ten year space between my first two kids and the last one. There were times in those years, that I thought we had that last little boy just for my oldest son's entertainment. My oldest son, Tim was a big tease and still is. Tim delighted in using his younger brother, John, to entertain people. He would dress him up and put him in the coat closet and when he signaled.... out would pop John...ta da! He would put big sweat pants on this little kid and tie the waist around his neck, put a hat on him and oversized sunglasses with a fake cigar... and tell him to do different funny things. We were just getting into bird watching, at that time, and I was always looking a bird up in my Peterson bird book. Tim and John would sit on the couch and look through the book too. They would sit there turning the pages and laughing.At first I didn't know what the attraction was with that book for the two brothers, but was happy that John was being entertained and I could get things done in the kitchen. One day when Grandma and Grandpa were coming to visit, Tim put his little brother up to something unforgettable. When the doorbell rang, John answered, with his birdbook tucked under his arm. As soon as the grandparents had their coats off and were sitting down, John said, "Grandma, do you want to see the Great Tit?" (I'm sitting here laughing right now) My Mom looked mortified. Dad had an embarrassed look on his face. He asked again, "Grandma do you want to see the Great Tit?" My older son was in the other room just holding his sides and laughing so hard. It seems that they had found a bird in the bird book called the Great Tit, and Tim had prompted his little brother to ask Grandma the question. Everything was explained, when they showed my parents the picture of the bird. Now, almost everytime I check something out in the birdbook, I remember this innocent little boy with the birdbook under his arm, answering the front door and just waiting to show Grandma what he had learned.

Balisha