Tom and Jerry Antics

My boys like to watch cartoons. While we limit how much screen time they get each day, what they do watch sticks. One of their favorites (and my least favorite) is Tom and Jerry. After they watch this pair, they are often full of meanness and tricks. Case in point:

James was looking for an elastic band today and went to the usual depository for rubber bands (which actually happens to be empty due to the need for ammo for rubber band guns, he should really look in the front room light fixture). There were no rubber bands, but there were shiny gold tacks. Oh, yes! You can put tacks on a chair and unsuspecting victims will sit on them and yell YEEOOOOWWWW! then viewers will laugh. No deliberation necessary. Deed is done and James exits the house.

Mom is cleaning up from the Father’s Day lunch yesterday (see previous post) and is ready to remove the leaf in the table. I’m not as spry as I used to be so as I am getting on the floor to unlock the leaf, I put my hand on the chair to steady myself. YEEOOOOWWWW!!!!! Not funny. Viewers did not laugh (Spencer and DJ). That is until I left the room to show James what he had done. DJ had a hard time keeping a straight face after I pulled the tack out and while I was bleeding. I gave them a lecture about funny things in cartoons are not funny things in real life (part XII in a series of lectures about when things are funny and when things are not).

Here is Spencer’s reaction:

It is a wanted poster, with James’ face on it. The first one he wrote went like this: WANTED: dead or alive, but mostly dead. James Isaac Astling for putting tacks on chairs.

Here is James’ response: “NO” in red letters under the wanted poster.

Just in case you didn’t find that funny enough (stop laughing). Here is another nugget from James: Spencer gets in the shower tonight and promptly gets out yelling MOOOOOOMMMM! There are pee spots in the bathtub! I verify. Yup. Unmistakable pee spots – I ought to know. I first go to DJ, my mischief boy. I get an innocent face, which I’m not completely convinced of. I go to James and ask if he did it. He said no. Mark informs me that James peed in the bathtub tonight. As I am leaving the bathroom in disgust, James yells “I thought you would never notice!”

People have commented that James looks like Dennis the Mennace, but this is going too far. I may just have to cut his hair. Maybe it would be like Sampson.