the boy | matching tracksuits

Preparing

Thursday 19 May 2022 | 0 Comments

The Boy’s birthday party is tomorrow: he wanted to have a backyard campout with his best friends, so there will be seven boys having a pre-campfire Nerf war and six boys (one can’t stay over) sleeping in our backyard. At least in theory.

Sleepovers are always a bit touchy: I remember having problems with sleepovers, and once I left at about eleven at night to go back home to sleep. It was only across the street, so it was no inconvenience for anyone, but still — it was only across the street. One would have thought I could manage it one night a few hundred feet away from my parents. I guess I was about seven or eight when that happened.

We’ll see tomorrow. “It will be fine,” K assures me, and I’m certain she’s right. But who knows: one of us might be driving a tired little boy home tomorrow, or waiting with him while a tired mom comes to pick him up.

Role Change

Monday 16 May 2022 | 0 Comments

10

Saturday 14 May 2022 | 0 Comments

The Boy -- 10 years old today. A decade of the Boy. Double digits.

In the morning, we had his breakfast of choice: bacon, eggs, and cinnamon rolls. Healthy choices. In the evening, dinner too was his choice: crab legs and shrimp.

After cheese cake and ice cream, he and I went to the local guitar store to spend all his present money in one shot:

A third guitar -- a bass.

The Girl and I spent the afternoon at a tournament only half an hour away -- quite a change.

She'd probably rather not talk about that, though. Let's just say it didn't go as well as the team was hoping.

Previous Years

Happy Mess Day

Second Time Around

Third Party

Celebration Day

Birthday

Fifth Birthday Party

Sports and Ice Cream

Seventh Birthday

Day 60: Eighth Birthday

Nine

Wednesday Afternoon Bike Ride

Wednesday 11 May 2022 | 0 Comments

The Boy and I decided yesterday that we'd go mountain biking today after school. He wanted to go to a bike park in a town about half an hour from here, but I said it was too far and suggested Lakeside Park, where L had her sand volleyball practices. He agreed, somewhat reluctantly, but seemed eager about the afternoon when I left this morning.

This afternoon, just as I was finishing up with the bikes and bike rack, he came out to tell me he wasn't ready.

"Well, get ready," I laughed.

"No, I'm not mentally ready. I don't really want to go now."

This is what I was waiting for, almost expecting. It happens more times than I care to experience, and sometimes, K and I take a more gentle approach, trying to get him to see the positives of it, reminding him why he wanted to do it in the first place. Not today. Today, I didn't have the time for that.

"Stinks to be you. We're leaving in a few minutes. Change your shirt and get your shoes on."

I went go get his bike to complete the whole packing process (his goes on last) and saw that his back tire was flat. Again. I'd just replaced the innertube before our last adventure only to have it rupture about a mile from the car. I'd simply taken the older one, which had the slow leak, and patched the leak. It had worked fine for a while.

This put a new crimp in the plan. He was already reluctant to go. Getting a flat in the middle of a ride might turn him off of riding for a while. There might be even more fussing the next time. I decided just to take the chance. I pumped up his tire, saw that it was holding, and packed the bike. When we arrived at the park, it was still holding. About midway through the first part of the ride, though, E noticed it was getting squishy. We went back to the car, pumped it back up, and rode another few miles.

"That was fun," was his verdict.

Mother’s Day 2022

Sunday 08 May 2022 | 0 Comments

Morning was for relaxing.

Afternoon was for relaxing, too. And a bit of spray painting.

Evening, our first fire in the new firepit.

Recital

Saturday 07 May 2022 | 0 Comments

The Boy had his first recital today. He’s been fretting about it on and off since he decided he wanted to participate in his music school’s annual recital, and he was particularly worried about it once we arrived at the venue — it was all too real then. But once he got in the warm-up room, he seemed fine.

“Do you want me to stay here with you?” I asked. He glanced up at his teacher.

“No, I’ll be fine.”

I went into the auditorium and found the girls. It wasn’t hard: there weren’t more than fifteen to twenty people in the audience.

Once he and his teacher worked out a little cord issue, he began, and though he later said his hands were shaking, you can’t really hear it in his playing.