Legos and Coercion

Sunday night, I decided we would all play with Legos. Yes, it happened just like that. I knew I wanted a chance for Jonathan and the kids to interact and build a few more memories to hold them until the next visit; I knew I wanted a chance to engage the sillier side of Jonathan before Memorial Day the next day; and I knew that I wanted to give Jeremy and Jon a little reminder of their own brotherly bond and knew they had played Legos a lot as kids.

So I got out the Legos and instantly had Sydney and Jack's involvement. I soon roped Jon in with a simple announcement of my intention that Legos was the family bonding event of [my] choice for the evening. The only hold out was Jeremy.


Me: What do you want to build? [hint: this is secret code for "you are playing Legos with us, right?]

Jeremy: Um, I really wasn't planning on building anything.

I raise my eyebrows, which is secret code for "no really, you are playing Legos with us, right?

Jeremy: I'm not really in the mood to play Legos.

Me: And you think Jonathan was?

Jonathan, to his credit, maintains a tactful silence and simply nods meaningfully.

Jeremy: Really?

Me: Really.

Soon lulled by the sound of plastic pieces scrapping against plastic pieces, Jon and Jeremy were both very much into their projects (as I knew they would be).

In fact, the first one to get bored of the Lego activity was Jack and the next was Sydney. Jeremy and Jon stayed in until they were both finished with their projects.

Jon made a space ship of some sort.

Jeremy created a fort, which Sydney commandeered for her own play.

I was in the middle of making some sort of wizard's tower when the guys were both finished and ready to move on, so I just made the ground floor.

Both Jeremy and Jon admitted that the Legos were a good idea, so I'm very glad that I twisted their arms a bit to get them to get started.