Image by typexnick from Pixabay
“So, I'm into Legos, but I really gotta think about this because there's gotta be a way to build clothes so that we can take being dry and warm out into a day like this.”
Six-year-old Grayson Ludlow and his eight-year-old sister Edwina were not happy with a rainy summer afternoon in August – it was so dark and raining so hard that they could not clearly see the Trent home where their friends were next door.
“And if it could repel mud too, that would be awesome,” Edwina said.
“Yeah, that too,” Grayson said. “You know how cars have a squeegee thing in their windshield that squirts? We need rain suits with that, too.”
“Maybe we can adapt an astronaut suit and throw on the squirts and some windshield wipers – you know how Papa's razor has those flexible blades?”
“Oh, yeah – flexible windshield wipers that go up and down and back and forth – that would be awesome,” Grayson said.
“Maggie, I'm going to head out for a minute and just check, because what with the recent water main break, I have a bad feeling there's mud in places it really doesn't need to be in and we are about to have major problems with local draining.”
Col. H.F. Lee walked through the living room on his way to the garage, clad in a full military-grade rain suit and hip boots, and Grayson and Amanda his little cousins just stared.
“Yeah, that's it,” Grayson said. “I just need to add the flexible windshield wipers.”
“And I need to make it fashionable!” Edwina said. “Just because it's raining doesn't mean you gotta wear dull green! I don't understand Cousin Harry sometimes – he looks like a model but just puts on anything!”
“But see, boys and men are a little different,” Grayson said. “It's like when I put on my hard hat and tool belt to help Papa with stuff around the house – we're about to mess it up before we can fix it up.”
“Just get a house with a bigger closet!” Edwina said. “Let them all be good clothes!”
“Well, yeah, Eddie, especially since I'm going to be building my own house and can do that,” Grayson said. “But then there's the sweating part when you really are working hard.”
“OK, but, it's like I have jump rope clothes that look good, too!” Edwina said. “You boys and men need to get to a higher standard of living!”
“Sometimes you just need to get smack done, though,” Grayson said. “It's what you have on that helps you get the job done that matters.”
“Well, I can't argue with that because Papa always gets smack done and I see you and Robert and Andrew and even George getting smack done – but look, Grandma and Eleanor and Amanda and I get smack done too and manage to stay cute!” Edwina said.
“Everybody around here gets smack done,” Grayson said. “It's just what goes first.”
Edwina considered this.
“You know what, Grayson?” she said. “I'm OK with that because smack and cuteness are both getting done. I'm OK with that.”
“This stuff is really not hard,” Grayson said. “It's just knowing it's OK to be different.”
Col. Lee hadn't even made it out of the back of house to the garage, overcome with laughter listening to his two little cousins putting an end to the battle of the sexes... and although his grim predictions downstream of the water main break were correct, he had a smile on his face when not spotting trouble and not making phone calls!