So our family is back together again now that the 2 older boys are back from scout camp and Big Boy just got back from pioneer trek. Cub scout day camp ended at the same time for Little Boy. Swimming lessons start soon for Big Girl. Oh and how can I forget the one week of lacrosse camp that cost us an arm and a leg to get the boys equipped for? I need to call and set up some summer time violin lessons for 2 boys and piano for the others. I am hesitant to do so because it will involve more driving and I already log way too much time in that driver's seat. Our car's DVD player was once to be used only during vacation-time road trips. Now it has become a regularly used item to keep Baby Girl happy in transit. I know I should have classical music, stimulating conversation, and uplifting books on tape going for them at all times, but sadly it's more like Slurpies, punching, and Nacho Libre back there...
But it has been nice to have everyone around the dinner table at night once again. Everyone except my husband that is. T has had a rough month and has sometimes not been home from work until after dark. Such is the life of an MD I guess. Amazing how I used to get worked up about such things and now I just shrug them off as part-of-the-deal. At least he is coming home right? Not like when he was in Iraq.
So when I picked up Big Boy from his trek experience I had a brief interaction with his 'Ma' (pretend mother for the weekend), and she praised my son up and down. She told me "He was such a great kid, wonderful helper, etc" Then she told me "He is going to make such a delightful adult to befriend when he grows up!" I thought that was an interesting comment to make. She seemed sincere enough. Hmm... Maybe I don't appreciate him like I should. Or maybe she doesn't know him like I do. Probably both.
He was helpful and in good spirits for a day. Not letting me lift his gear as we went to load up and leave. Then today I was left scratching my head a bit when I had to re-call him again and again to do a specific job. I interrupted his job of doing the dishes to ask that he take some old kitchen washcloths to the laundry. The next thing you know he was outside playing in the back yard. When I questioned his abilities to stick to a hard job with 'Ma' but not with me (the real deal), he responded with the excuse that it was because he knew me.
"Let me get this straight, you are capable of staying on task, but because you are familiar with me you blow me off?" What is up with that!?
"Well the door was open, I went to shut it and the outdoors called to me"
"But that would not have happened on trek?"
"Nope"
"Why not?"
"Because we were always outside there"
And off he went,
without finishing his job....
3 comments:
Teenage boys for you! They are so illogical!
"I interrupted his job"
I know how to spot the root of this problem. I have LOTS of experience with seeing clearly--in hindsight. I have one son for whom my interrupting him is always a complete disaster. Somehow I have the hardest time remembering NOT to interrupt him when he is actually doing something he's supposed to be doing, just because I have something else in mind for the moment. I have three children who can pick up a stray sock, toss it in the wash, and then get back to whatever chore they were doing on their own--although, even they don't always do it. There's another child who needs extra time with transitions. And then there's the child who cannot walk through a room in a straight line to save his life.
My mantra? Be gentle (with him for being wired differently and with myself for not always remembering). Good luck to us both.
Thanks for the friendly advice CSI. I hope we both make it....
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