The Cheerios Lady (i.e. A Mother's Sweet Revenge)

Once upon a time, Adam went to work at Camp Bartlett for his second summer in a row.  His first summer must not have been nearly as fun, because his family got a letter from him almost weekly.  This summer, they received one letter (and finally a second), and very little other communication.

One day, after discovering the picture below on facebook, along with another without Adam but with a lot of the same people with a big fun fair in the background, his mommy's revenge-anator went into overdrive.

Before I continue, you must meet the Cheerios Lady.  The Cheerios Lady is the happiest woman I personally have ever seen, and all over a bowl of Cheerios!  A few years ago she appeared on the back of the Cheerios box, and we used her almost every morning to bring good cheer to everyone at the breakfast table.  If someone woke up grumpy, we would point her their direction, knowing that glowing happiness like that has to have some kind of affect.  Unfortunately for Adam, the effect was more annoyance than happiness, but we still tried anyway.

We even sent her to scout camp as some mid-week mail.  (Bit of foreshadowing - Adam received that at Camp Bartlett in 2009.)  He had to have been writhing on the ground in tears before receiving it for her to bring him to that state of . . . well . . . something.

Back to our present story.  After seeing my handsome son decked out in a cowboy hat I had never seen apparently at a fair in who-knows-where, having so much fun over the weekend that he didn't have time to check in with his family to tell us what he'd been up to, it was time for him to learn a lesson in communication.

We dubbed our beloved Cheerios Lady "Adam," took him everywhere we went for the next 2 weeks before we picked him up from camp, and posted them on facebook.  Here are some of my favorites (there are lots more, it was hard to choose).

Adam looking at the clouds with the other kids.

Adam watching "Princess Charm School" with Madeleine.

Adam swimming with Madeleine while Melanie waded.  Yes, Adam got wet.

I had a meeting at the park and Adam's good buddy wasn't there, so he sat by me nice and bored for a while.

He finally borrowed a book from another friend and read for a while.

I hired a couple of thugs to get after Adam for not communicating with his mom.

Adam helping me out with my Webelos.

Adam eating Chik-fil-a with us (Sam even shared some lemonade).

Adam playing ring-around-the-rosie at his friend's sister's birthday party.

Adam reading some of his favorite magazines at the library.

Adam watching Sammy compete in a Lego robotics competition.

Adam looking for deer at the nature center.

Adam helping me heft two bags of chicken feed (I was glad he was there!).

Adam feeding some ducks and geese.

Adam protecting the other children from the ducks and geese (we were surrounded!).

Adam having a tea party with his sisters and some cousins.

Adam taking a Sunday nap.

Adam helping out with a family home evening story.

What the house looks like while Adam is "babysitting."

(He was playing video games instead of watching the kids.)

Adam helping out at a cub scout raingutter regatta.

Adam giving some good scout advice to the newest cub scout graduate.

Sam shared some of his doctored chili.  This time Adam isn't smiling.  He's screaming in pain.

Adam learning to crochet from his sisters.

Picking up the real Adam at the end of camp.  Just like the other camp picture, so excited to be with the Cheerios Lady!

By the way, I really think Cheerios should print her on Cheerios boxes again.  Besides sharing her happy smile with everyone, my Cheerios Lady is getting pretty beat up and I could use some more copies of her.  Never know when I might need to use her again!

P.S.  The revenge worked.  Adam was warned at the beginning of the first week that some retribution was going to be happening, and he even guessed that it had something to do with the Cheerios Lady.  Mid-week another camp staff member noticed the pictures, told him about them, then showed them to him.  That week we got a letter and two phone calls over the weekend.  Wow!  A couple more phone calls during the next week.  Hopefully he remembers again next summer!