Swimming with one fin

Greetings Y'all ;
I just finished watching an exquisite sunrise this morning. I sat back and viewed the dawning of yet another new day filled with fresh hope and opportunities. As I quietly reflected on on my blessings I realized God treats us, or at least my son and I , pretty good. I am grateful for new days, my sons quirky and exuberant vitality, fresh coffee, seedless watermelons, and my genuine friends , among a host of other things.

This week it became apparent that the quality of friends outweighs the quantity of friends. I learned that stripping away empathy to get to the core can be painful but is necessary at times. Ironically I still feel sorry those who cause us grief, I feel sorry for their pain that causes them to say and do things.
No one is perfect, least of all me.

So let's talk about yesterday now. We , wait for it ..... went swimming ! It was all good , for awhile. Mowgli put forth a Phelpsian effort during five races with children five and six years his senior. The last race he really showboated, much to my chagrin and consternation. He gave them a head start then swam with one arm and still won. He has a strange habit of using one fin, odd little monkey . Those children left and he played with me , we played the baseball game- epic failure. More screaming,crying but when I turned to take a breather and collect myself and he grabbed me that ended the game. We calmed down and talked it out back in our flat. I realized I could have kept him there and let him work out the frustration but quite honestly that whole screaming whining thing is my kryptonite. My PTSD is still on the surface after this week.

We then took a run to Trader Joes for pizza crust and fruits. My little man wanted pineapple pizza and more watermelon. It's funny but he read 'Eat This Not That' out loud on the way to TJs , all through the store , while we loaded the car, on the way to the next store.... I realized I am not an auditory learner so I promised him I work on that. TJs was out of watermelon, no worries plan B Safeway had a special on them and was on the way home. Oops sold out :( ok ok uhm plan C - Target had a two day special on personal watermelons and it's on the way home . We got the last one , well last two but it seems Zander learned when daddy says stop goofing with the melon or it will drop and you keep goofing with the melon then you , or rather the melon , has a bad experience with gravity." Irv - clean up in aisle four "( from Mr.Mom). He manned up and called on the help phone to let them know it and told two workers . If you make a mistake , you make amends, then you move on.

We got back and returned to the pool where we played quite nicely and with much jocularity. Came home and relaxed with some good competitive sports viewing. We baseball and I made sure to point out each pitch every player has a choice- freak out or figure out. That is be so upset that their focus is gone or figure out what needs to be done. Gotta toss them little life lessons on whenever possible. We finished with homemade pizza ( my sauce failed miserably) while watching Michael Phelps go down in history. Well done young man. Naturally the night ended with snuggles and my singing our good night songs.

It's funny but junior mint did great with older kids and a little girl ( he very sweetly played with and guided her). It's a pattern I've seen for years and am repeatedly told is nice but he must learn to play with his peers. So what's our definition of peers? Olders have lived through what he is experiencing and have more patience plus he can communicate with them on an intellectual level. I'd said it's their patience and guidance that benefits him. Youngers are kids he can relate to who need help - now he can guide and help which boosts his self esteem. But what about children his age ?

So on this glorious new day I look forward to .....

Thanks for stopping by , checking in on us , and for reading once again.