When I arrived to pick up my boys from a friend's house around the block, they weren't outside playing with the rest of the kids. "They're upstairs," explained my neighbor, Jeannie, as she opened her front door to let me in.

"Upstairs?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "They wanted to watch Hey, Arnold—The Movie."

I walked to the stairs and called up. "Hey guys, it's time to go." My son Mark appeared at the landing, sheer panic on his face.

"But Mom," he shrieked. "We're watching a movie!"

"Sorry, Mark. We've got to go."

"Pleeeeeeeeeease," he wailed, hands clasped together in a fervent prayer.

"It's almost over!" came the voice of my other son, Jeff. (He didn't even bother to make his plea in person for fear he would miss a plot point.)

I smiled sheepishly at my neighbor standing by my side, obviously worrying that this was about to turn ugly. "Sorry, guys. I've got dinner on the stove. We have to go now."

Silence.

"If you make me come up there…" I warned.

No answer.

These certainly aren't my boys, I thought as I climbed the stairs. But there they were in the dark, necks craned forward, completely involved in the action on the screen. "Mark! Jeff!" I snapped in my sternest parent voice. "Move!"

Still nothing.

I marched to the remote and hit the off button. Instinctively they charged forward grabbing for it, but I caught each of them by the shoulders and turned to make a hasty exit. They weren't ready to give in without a fight, though. Mark held tightly to the door jam while Jeff shook his shoulders, violently trying to break free from my grasp. Jeannie stood at the foot of the stairs in helpless disbelief. I looked up and feigned a smile as if to say, "No problem; I've got this under control," but all the while felt completely powerless.

Just then, Mark broke free and tried to run back in the room. I blocked him, and he dropped to the floor defeated, sobbing, and pounding the carpet with his fists. Jeff, meanwhile, stood by my side wailing, "But Mom! We want to watch! We want to watch!"

The whole scene was just plain nasty.