I'm in the second week (out of four) of observing Gideon's swim lessons. I watch from the other side the pool because on the first day the instructor warned the parents that if we meddled she'd banish us straight to the picnic area behind the fence. I keep a far distance so there's no misunderstanding. I'm no meddler!
During my observations of swim classes I came to a realization. Kids are big babies and whiners. Everyday some kid is having a breakdown. Thursday was Gideon's turn for one. I'm not sure exactly what he said, because I was across the pool definitely not meddling, but I think he screamed "I want to go home!" after his teacher poured some water on his head.
Of course, no matter where I sit not meddling, I always end up next to the kid who's lecturing his mom on how she needs to fill his summer with lots of activities and plan their days a lot better. Apparently when something isn't being organized for him all he can do is lay on a chair in a daze. He has the imagination of a gnat.
Anyhow, enough about him, more about my kid. After his Thursday meltdown I purchased some magic goggles and a new magic swimsuit. I explained that to activate the magic in these items he had to both activate the magic inside of himself and get these items wet. I explained that he's a very powerful magician, possibly even more powerful than me, but he has to practice his magic and get his freakin' face wet.
He's doing a lot better after our talk. I plan on using this line of inspiration until he's at least 16.
And speaking of inspiration, our upcoming trip to Stockholm has been a great incentive for him to try new foods (new foods= anything that isn't bread, cheese, noodles or some combination of such). I explained that on adventures we're going to have to eat a lot of crazy food, cause that's what adventurers do. On our last adventure (recent beach trip) he tried fish, shrimp, steak, pancakes, hushpuppies and strawberries. He already likes meatballs, so we should be good to go for Sweden.
We've been going through the guidebook discussing what we want to see and do. It turns out that we both want to do a lot of the same things, which was a relief because I really didn't want to spend a week at the Swedish Chuck E Cheese.
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As one who works in the 'unwashed' segment of academia (that of high school) I am a witnessto the inability and/or unwillingness of students to use creative and critical thinking. What a strange and wondrous gift it has been to see my youngest son, now four, use his imagination far mor than his older brothers. He actually pretends, and interacts as the things he is pretending to be. Your son, my son, hope is still the thing with feathers.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, if Gideon loses his ability or willingness for creativity I don't know what the hell we'll ever talk about. I sure the hell ain't becoming his social director.
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