So we were back to square one, and we approached today's meet-and-greet with a skeptical eye but hopeful hearts. It was promising. It was all of the things we’d been looking for — creative, open, welcoming and diverse. At no time did I get the feeling that anyone had an agenda, be it political, social, religious or anti-religious. Which was a relief. We don’t fit in most people’s agendas. I told you we were misfits. We don’t mind for ourselves; we’re used to it. But when it affects The Boy and his opportunities, that really stinks. And makes me angry, and bitter, and lots of other things I try not to be today. I took a lot of deep, cleansing breaths this week. Breathe out the aggression! Breathe out the hostility! Breathe out the resentment! I breathed in a lot of brownies, and that helped, too.
Fortunately, it’s looking like we’re going to be all right with this new home-school group. It was a good sign when the first kid we encountered after walking in was the guy who had picked The Boy up and swung him around at his first MMA class last summer. And when Tad mentioned that fact, all of the other kids in the room started excitedly volunteering the details of their own martial-arts training. The Boy — and The Daddy — plopped themselves right down at the table with them, having found their people. I wandered around, eavesdropped on some moms and collected some fliers. I didn’t let myself feel too at home yet, but we made plans to go back.
Baby steps, people, baby steps. And cleansing breaths and brownies.
I am personally a fan of anticipation. I love the big lead-in.
The Boy doesn’t do so well with anticipation. He gets too antsy; he can’t handle the suspense. Sometimes it comes out negatively, with tantrums and moodiness and crying. Sometimes he just gets silly. Mostly, though, he sings. I guess it’s all part of his musical personality, but when anything is going on with him, a schedule change or a holiday coming or just something in the air that he doesn’t recognize, he sings. A lot. It’s his coping mechanism. There are worse ones.
This week’s No. 1 song is the Ben 10 theme song, but he’s been breaking out a lot of other old favorites and new numbers, too. We hear him upstairs in the playroom while we’re making dinner, he sings in the bathtub, he sings in the car. I would say that once we wrap up the summer and get on a school schedule, the music will fade out, but then we’ve got the State Fair, then the beach, then Halloween and, before we know it, Thanksgiving and Christmas. So let the music play.
If you're feeling stressed today, follow The Boy's lead and sing. Sing along with this one — I know you know the words — and trust me, you'll feel better right away. It's like magic.
But at the same time, we’re going to miss the summer. Specifically we will miss the weekends at the pool with the Older Cousins — the cookouts, the swimming and the late-night pizza and movie parties. Summer is celebration time for Soffee kids, and they’re all a little blue about its impending end.
We've been cramming in as much cousin time as we can, just stocking up while there’s still some summer. Saturday night was pizza and movies in the basement; Sunday was Italian sausages on the grill. When it came time for us to leave, Oldest Cousin made us swear that we’d be there for all three days of the upcoming holiday weekend.
“We wouldn’t miss it,” I said truthfully.
Here’s to another great Soffee summer, almost over. May there be many, many more.
THE BOY (playing with toy robot on floor): “You know, Mama, I don’t think Daddy is coming back downstairs tonight. I think he is just going to bed.”
THE MAMA: “Well, I hope you’re wrong, because I would like him to come down and hang out with us.”
THE BOY: [Eyes narrowed] “I thought you loved me!”
THE BOY: “When you love someone, you don’t hope for them to be wrong!”
Enter THE DADDY.
THE BOY: [Sighing] “I hope you’re happy.”
THE DADDY: “What did I miss?”
The new bedtime book of choice is Brave Potatoes, written by Toby Speed and illustrated by Barry Root. I don’t know if Speed chose the artist based on his name; in any case, they are a great team. It’s fabulous, suspense-filled and more than a little disturbing.
I personally love this book because it takes place at the OMG FAIR — did you know it’s almost here? (Yes, I have issues, too.) The potatoes escape from the bud and bean arena and trek down the midway to ride the Zip — but they are captured by Chef Hackemup, who is intent on adding them to his soup. I won’t ruin the ending, but the folks over at Curious Pages will — they give you the whole story, along with commentary.
By the way, Curious Pages is a book blog devoted to “recommended inappropriate books for kids,” and it should come as no surprise that I have more than a few of the books they have featured! In fact, Der Struwwelpeter, the one that’s used for the site banner, is sitting on the shelf just above my head right now. We found it at the thrift store when The Boy was 2, and after one reading, he handed me the book and very firmly told me that he thought it should go right back to the thrift store. Click the link and see if you agree.
