Lord of the Flies

When we moved into our house seven years ago, we were warmly greeted with regular pranks from the two young boys next door.  One day, while hanging plants on our patio, Ryan and I were repeatedly shot with a squirt gun, and there was also an incident with a BB gun while Ryan was mowing the lawn.  Instead of picking up after their dogs, the neighbor boys would just throw the poop into our yard.  I’m not ashamed to say that I would promptly throw it back, often aiming for their pool.  (I did use a shovel.)

All of this drove me absolutely insane for years, but not as much as one little fact.  The boys, and their dad, almost never wore shirts, even in cold weather.  They ran around naked from the waist up, so all of their shenanigans (which now seem pretty harmless) constantly reminded me of Lord of the Flies, the classic novel in which a group of schoolboys are stranded on a remote island after a plane crash, and must fend for themselves as anarchy ensues.  I began using the title to describe what I saw next door, often telling Ryan that it was “all Lord of the Flies over there.”

Well, you know what happened, don’t you?  Those boys grew up into what we hope are fairly normal adults, and Ryan and I now have two little boys of our own.

I like to think that my boys will be sweeter and more responsible than the boys next door, but then I witness scenes like this one.

(My own little Lords of the Flies.)

Since Ryan works from home three days a week, he normally takes the boys outside to play after lunch while I clean up and catch my breath for a few minutes.  One hot afternoon recently, I walked past a window and was literally shocked to find all three outside, dressed in jeans, and stripped of their shirts as they played.  That’s when the irony of the situation hit me like a ton of bricks, and I grabbed the camera and snapped a few pictures.

I used to get so frustrated with the guy next door, because his boys were little hooligans, and now I’ve got a pair of my own.

Talk about coming full circle.

Lucky for our neighbor, we don’t have a dog.  At least, not yet.