Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary
1. With all the focus on confirmation last week I totally forgot to mention anything about Rosie trying out basketball! The church had FREE basketball training for second graders this winter and so Rosie went and tried her hand. It was interesting to me how different second graders are from one another- some of them were really tall, and then there were some that looked like babies. Rosie was one of the taller ones, but not the tallest. It was also pretty clear which boys had been given basketballs to dribble as soon as they emerged from the womb, and which didn’t. Rosie actually has no ball handling skills at all – but she sure can run and I think that caught the interest of the parent/coaches who were helping the kids. So we’ll see. Maybe next year she will end up on a CYO basketball team.
2. This winter Noah had the opportunity to run with a local public high school running club. They run from November to March to keep in shape for track season. They ran all over the west end of town and I think Noah is a much better runner now because of it. But now that’s over because a non-attending student cannot participate on the school sports teams – I don’t care how long their parents have been paying property taxes to support the schools!
3. Calvin thinks I should put Noah in public school so that he can be on the regular cross country team, but I just can’t wrap my mind about putting my kids in public school when I read things like this or this.
4. There were times this winter when only Noah and one other kid showed up for these running sessions. They ran through snow, rain, and low temperatures and they ran for miles and miles! So it was kind of funny last week to see TONS of kids show up to start conditioning last week. It was even funnier to watch them get winded as they made one or two laps around the track – laps that Noah and the other kids used as a warm up! Diligence in exercise pays off!
5. It’s been sort of a difficult week for me this week. I’ve had some issues with my teenage sons being disrespectful, disobedient and sometimes just outright rebellious. One incident last Saturday left me a bit shaken when my son started screaming in my face and had me backed up against the refrigerator and the sink. Not that I was afraid that I was going to get hurt – I’m tough enough to fight back if I have to, but the incident seemed surreal- as if it wasn’t really happening at all. And that is why I couldn’t speak to this kid until late in the week – I wasn’t sure that I could censor my own speech once I got started.
I long for the days that arguments and disagreements or just plain grumpiness could be handled with a cookie and a nap! Raising boys to men – especially over that tricky time between high school and adult hood – sucks… for the parent… particularly for the mom. This is my third time round and I still don’t think I’ve gotten it right.
And there’s something else – when my first son was a baby I had a day when I decided I was not going to let him cry at all. I held him, rocked him, fed him, burped him and changed him and despite my best efforts, by the end of the day he still had a good long, loud cry. It dawned on me then that perhaps babies just need to cry – even if all their needs are met.
And so it is, I think, with boys becoming men. They need to make sure mom knows her place, even if she has tried to deal with them using her best logic and listening skills. They. don’t. care. They aren’t completely men yet, so there must be something in their make up that makes them act like this. At least that’s my current working theory.
6. I was inspired by Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster last week! Not wanting to let that teachable moment pass us by, I found Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and showed the kids this clip of a filibuster. Gabe’s memorable comment was, “They sure knew how to really act back then!”
Indeed.
Mr. Paul did pretty well too!
7. Mr. Pete was the cantor last week. And good wife that I am, I caught it on my phone! I think he has a beautiful voice.
Sounds like Noah has a talent that could be explored and could advance him in a different way. Runners tend to be different- bright and strong. Also, it will give him an outlet for angst- he can be the captain of a team and yell at his team mate. My son never yelled at me- but his team mates (and now his soldiers) do not cross him.
Putting him in school will not be a disgrace-. He will most likely feel success and you gave him a great base.
Noah's not the problem. He's actually a pretty good kid and my right- arm around here sometimes. I'm planning to put him in some 5K races around here soon.