We were playing Monkey Ball. Monkey Ball 2, the target game in particular. When I say we, I mean Rebecca, Luke and I. It was the end of our session, and we were wrapping up. Rebecca’s monkey fell off the side of the launch ramp. I made fun of her and got tickled in return. Then, Luke escalated it by reaching over and punching the button to make my monkey stop flying. We were all laughing. And I thought, I’ll repay the favor. That’s when my son’s laughter immediately turned to hard, ugly tears. He was so upset.
To be fair, he didn’t nap that day. It was coming up on bedtime, and we’re still in the nap transition where no-nap = tenuous bed time. But I figured, we were all laughing, and turnabout is fair play.
I learned an important lesson. Turnabout IS fair play. Except for when it is not.