Life is always more violent on the other side of the fence

When we moved into our house 5 years ago, we immediately installed a fence around our backyard. It's not a privacy fence, just the typical wooden picket fence that you'd find in lot of homes around suburbia. When we came to Ohio we had two dogs and one 18 month old child, so containment of these critters was our main priority.

Thankfully, the fence is open enough to afford a clear view of our neighbor's back yard. This is ideal since right next door to us you will find a home filled with 5 boys (& of course their somewhat harried but always very friendly single mother). Over the past 5 years, my kids have spent a lot of time staring longingly through that fence to see what the "big boys" were doing.






The boys next door range in age from 11 years old all the way up to 17. If any of them are outside, my two hooligans have their eyes peeled toward the fence to see what is going on. As you would expect with so many boys, most of the outdoor activities include sword fights, spear throwing, tackle football, or gun play (pellet guns thankfully, not real ones.) Lately though, the boys seem to have a new favorite pastime and it's one that my hooligans really enjoy if their cheering & clapping are any indication.



Apparently the boys have taken a shine to professional wrestling & like to reenact their favorite moves on the family's trampoline. At first most of their "cage matches" simply featured some combination of the brothers jumping on each other within the confines of the trampoline enclosure. Lately though I've noticed that additional props have been added to the show.

Much to the delight of my two hooligans, today's performance included a metal trash can and 2 large plastic batons.

I kept hearing my two crazy children cheering "Hit him again!" and "Push him into the wall" alongside the clang of the metal trash can as each brother took turns using it as a bludgeoning device.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother trying to monitor the amount of violence they watch on TV.

Umm... is it just me or does it look like D is choking his younger brother A in this shot? This is one of the many reasons why Mr. Crackers & I have wisely decided to stop procreating. I'm not sure I can handle more than 2 children. The thought of rearing 5 boys always makes me start to hyperventilate.

I'd probably be out there standing next to the trampoline saying, "Now D, don't choke your brother too hard." or "A, be gentle when you hit your brother on the head with the trash can." or even "Hey, who wants to go inside and color or play quietly with Legos?"

Nope, I'll just stick with my 2 hooligans & try to avoid WWE Smackdown pay-per-view matches in the future with the same fervor that I used to escape Barney during their toddler years.

By the way, I am happy to report that no neighbor boys were injured in the wrestling matches this afternoon. Just like the real WWE, the fights next door are mostly for show.

I'm just glad my kids are the audience instead of the participants. This way, there's a much smaller chance they'll get hit over the head with a trash can.