Sofa Shenanigans

Olli is confident, laid back and pretty unflappable. But on this occasion he was visibly shaken and we had no idea what could have happened.

Josh loves church and sits quite happily on his sofa throughout the service. Midway through this particular Sunday service Andy and I took the big step of leaving him in the care of his 17 year old younger brother. Most of the children went out to their different groups and we left to lead a group of young teens. The adults remained to listen to the sermon and Josh happily settled down to watch his iPad. The demand on Oliver should have been minimal. We didn’t anticipate any problems.

Josh is proficient with his iPad – he knows what he likes and he knows how to get there. He reaches his chosen destination with impressive speed. YouTube is a favourite; the birth of babies his viewing choice. The sights and sounds of labour aren’t to everyone’s taste, especially in the middle of a Sunday sermon. We asked Olli to keep a vigilant eye on what Josh was watching. Headphones were essential.

‘One born every minute’ progressed to ‘Call the midwife’. The occasional pantomime was watched in between. All remained calm until Olli found, to his horror, that Josh was watching something altogether different. Josh had somehow managed to segue from heart warming stories of child birth to what appeared to be bizarre Japanese pornography!

Horrified, Olli grabbed at the iPad. His panic was obvious to Josh who pulled the iPad back with a threatening roar. Olli made another grab for the iPad but Josh fought him off. Most people present were used to Josh’s squeals and shouts – this was different. Olli was visibly distressed and Josh was bellowing his displeasure.

Meanwhile, the video continued to run.

Olli made a further, desperate attempt to wrestle the iPad from his brother. Josh anticipated this and held the iPad aloft. The Japanese porn stars were now performing to a stunned church audience.

By the time we returned, Josh was grumpily watching Mr Tumble whilst Olli was hyperventilating. Having made a successful final lunge for the iPad, Oliver hadn’t let go of it since.

Though he had pushed boundaries and broken rules during his teenage years, this experience left Olli completely mortified. As we prised the iPad from his grasp and he recounted his tale; “In Church!” he spluttered, “he watched that in Church!” Quite. Andy’s failure to keep a straight face at that point didn’t help!