I have been part of the Sharpie Squad for almost a year now. It has been seriously one of the most fun ambassadorships I’ve ever participated in- because EVERYONE loves Sharpie. Seriously. People (including many-a-family member of mine) are no joke about their Sharpies- they love them- they steal them from me. But perhaps the best part about being on The Sharpie Squad has been hearing the stories of how people use their Sharpies. From nail polish, to shrinkie dinks…. I am amazed every time. When my friend (and Socialrati partner) Rachel recently told me this one though- I knew just had to share. -Corine
I have two daughters, now 18 and 23. My best friend (my sister by heart)has two boys, now 10 and 15. We share our children- her boys are my boys, and my girls are her girls. The kids call each other godbrother or godsister. With that said, her boys – we’ll call them J and R for now- love to come to our house. They get to hang with Mr.Rucci, who lets them get away with everything and buys the most obnoxious toys in the “Man Cave”.
Having gone through the teenage years with my girls, I know there is plenty of sibling rivalry. They fought about clothes, shoes, makeup, brushes, who was getting a ride to where, who was sitting where at the table, and who called “shot gun” first. But as much as they argued- do not cross one of them- because they would turn into a pack of wolves defending each other. So clearly being so well versed- I should have no problem handling the boys, right?
I’ll let you be the judge.
One weekend the boys came over. It started with J punching R in the arm “to make him tough”. Not cool. So uncle Richie put a stop to that. Great, one thing down…woo hoo! we still got it!
Later that night, I’m in the dining room on Twitter typing away at 1:30 in the morning. R is sleeping sound on one couch and J is texting away and watching TV on the other couch. J comes over and asks me for a highlighter, without lifting my head and just pointing I told him where he could find one. I thought to myself “Wow he’s such a bright boy- reading something for school and highlighting the important facts!” I do confess, I faintly heard him say, “Oh good a Sharpie- even better!” But still sucked into Twitter, it didn’t set off any alarm.
The next thing I know R has Sharpie all over his little cute sleeping face….EV-ER-Y-WH-ERE!
I thought “OMG how am I going to explain this to their mother? I can’t wake R now, so I let him sleep all night with the permanent marker on his face. I yell at J asking, “Why would you do that to your brother”. His defense? R wrote on him with a highlighter and he “just got him back”.
The next morning, when Mr.Rucci went to wake up the boys and saw R. He asked, “What is all over your face,” then immediately looking at J, asking, “WHAT did you do to your brother?” After hearing the solid defense from J, Mr. Rucci helped R cleaning up his face. The joke for the day was that TT (that’s me) doesn’t pay attention to her surroundings when on Twitter! I took the jokes, and just thought “Phew! Glad that incident is over~”
Not exactly.
The next day I received this letter from my best friend:
Dear Rich & Rachel,
Thank you again ever so much for the giagantical weapon you purchased for R. We especially love the large wooden target that is now set up in the living room. We spent all of last night target shooting or practicing to be a sniper. Last week R wanted to be a Nascar Pit Crew Chief when he grew up now we want to “snipe” people. It was adorable I snapped a few photos to update his baby book.R showed me a series of bruises on his arm in the shape of J’s fist. (This happened under my watch not yours) Apparently beating the crap out of R to the point of bruising him will make him tougher. Both boys agreed this was the objective to make R tough. Please save this email in the event I am brought up on charges for child abuse next time the boy see’s a DR.
When I went in to wake up R this morning I noticed he is sleeping with a Sharpie marker next to his bed (no joke) I guess he wants to be prepared for a counter attack should he ever be able to stay up later than J. Last night he must have fallen asleep first because the marker remained capped on the window ledge. I removed the marker from his room. J was spared –this time.
Ah yes Boys…..gotta love them.
In addition to being my friend and Socialrati partner, Rachel blogs over at www.rachelferrucci.com, hosts a live web show for hip-grandparents called “The G-Spot” and also has a fabulous skincare line Touch’d that I highly recommend you check out! (Yes, she is one busy and fabulous lady)
