That is a LOT of driving for one weekend if you are an adult, and an eternity of driving if you are a small child. Especially if you are then expected to get out of the car, play and basically live with friends you see only twice a year (and boys at that) and since you are a guest at someone else's home you are also expected to be on your best behavior and get this... Polite!
Well that is exactly what we did to Ada this weekend. And she was a politeness rock star. Due to our short time in San Francisco and the need to do all of the prep for the half marathon Ada was left to hang with her new buddies Eli and Ian and their dad, Scott. That's a lot of boys if you are Ada. But she LOVES these boys, she spent the whole drive up remembering how much she loves these boys and so she had a great time.
But she is still an almost four year old kid. And at home there are a lot of manners we are trying to instill. We've had 'Thank You' and 'Please' down for a while but lately she has had to be reminded. A lot. So I was a bit nervous for how all this would play out in the house of boys. Apparently Ada got the "It is not OK to be rude to other people's parents" memo. While we were eating dinner on Saturday night she was asked if she wanted more noodles several times and each time a quiet "Yes, Please" emerged. At one point it got a little ridiculous and she gave Scott about 4 "Yes, please"es in a row.
She also showed that while she has not yet successfully pulled off the "May I please be excused" phrase at home, she is perfectly capable of throwing that down on the table if she is a guest. On Saturday morning when the running crew took off to pick up our numbers I had a quick chat with Ada that went something like this:
"Ada, we are going to the expo to pick up our numbers. We will be fast. But while we are gone, Scott is in charge"
"OK"
"Do you know who Scott is?"
"Yes, EliandIan's dad"
"Yes. He is in charge. You need to do what he says."
"OK"
Well Ada figured that meant he was in charge for the rest of the weekend. And to be fair, he did more than his fair share of kid duty. But in Ada's mind, he was the Grand Pu-Ba of San Francisco. So each time a meal ended. Even if Elliot and I were sitting right there with her, she would turn to Scott and say in the sweetest, most angelic little voice "May I please be excused" and it was only once Scott had acknowledged her and provided permission to leave would she get up to run around like a crazy kid with the boys.
Scott is now invited to come visit us in San Diego any time. In fact, we might get a cardboard cut out of him to place at the dinner table to help Ada.. eh hem.. remember her politeness.
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