And the boys played on

Friday was Early Out. Early Out days often seem like odd, long stretches of lost time. The boys are home early, but getting them to engage in an activity or find something for them to do is next to impossible. They have had their taste of school, they want cartoons (well, MythBusters is the current TV favorite) and video games, but it is far too early in the day. The Witching Hour is often simply extended from one to five instead of four to five.

Hallelujah, Spring weather to the rescue. I tossed them both outside with our Awesome Neighbor to play. They took turns riding Joey's trike. They played in the sand. They chased each other in games. They bickered as boys will do, especially when they are 6-10 years old and all of them are powerful personalities. Another friend and his mom were taking a walk, and joined us. I had four kids playing in my back yard, being boys.

It was totally awesome.

There was no denying that two of them were autistic, and the other two were hyperactive. But holy cow, they just played like any other group of boys. The other mom and I sat on lawn chairs on the patio and played with our new phones (I have my new iphone, she has a droid), swapping app suggestions. And the boys played on.

Awesome Neighbor had to go home. JoeyAndyDad came home. We sat in lawn chairs together, talking about phones and apps and geeky stuff like that. Boys had drinks and sand and the tricycle.

And the boys played on.