Useful Kids

We had friends over for dinner tonight. We haven't seen them in a looooong time; too long, really, maybe a year? When last we were together, their baby was turning one - today, he's past two. They arrived, there were hugs, and in the greeting mix, Ross and Lars absconded with the baby. I glanced into playroom, saw trains coming out, and offered our guests drinks - the kids were taking care of the kid! I saw it as joyous. Our guests allowed it to happen but seemed nervous, even after I explained that Ross loves to play with little kids and has yet to lose anyone. At some point in our conversation, Chris mentioned how fond Lars is of knocking other kids over and sitting on them. Really, Lars hasn't done that in years (except to his brother, who generally deserves it), but our friends looked as if they might be calculating possible damage of a sixty-pound seven year old sitting on their 20-pound toddler. Dinner was fabulous! They are food people like we are and our shared meal came out really well. As they were handing round the satay sauce, they explained it was made from sunflower seeds as they're not feeding nuts until their kid turns three. Oh? I suggested they might not want him to have the fruit salad, then, since it had pecans. *sigh* We had a great time with them and I hope they're not putting us on a list of crazy people (underage child watchers! nuts!) they will avoid.