Wally, Richie, and I always walk outside and sit on the front porch steps as Erin and Zach get on the bus every morning and drive away. The bus stop is only about a half a block away and a straight shot from our house. They love screaming "BYE!!!" at the top of their lungs. The mean mom that I am, I don't allow them to full out scream very often without getting in trouble. So this morning we went out to watch the older two run to the bus. Zach, however, got distracted about halfway there. We watched him discover this giant branch at least twice the size he is, and he promptly went over, picked it up, and began carrying it to the bus stop. I yell across the road, "Zachie! Zachie!!!" He finally looks over and I make big arm movements. "Put that stick down!!" He doesn't. Next, I can hear Erin yelling at him from the bus stop to put the stick down and run to catch the bus. Then Wally and Richie join in. After all, it is their favorite activity. Richie keeps screaming, "DOWN! DOWN!" Wally is yelling at Zach to put the stick down over and over. They continue even after he throws it down and runs to the bus stop. I start to think about how we look as a family out there screaming in the early morning hours and finally start to get embarrassed. My kids are growing up exactly like me.