Back on our feet and raring to go

Look how beautiful my flowers are.

They are springing up in every corner.

On on many trees as well.

This week saw several school related activities. The first of which was Chipotle Night. The kids love Chipotle and it was very exciting for Kiernan to meet a friend while out on the town. He was super wound up right until he accidentally knocked over his drink and made a mess and then he was so subdued that it was real work dragging him back out of his shell. 

I recognize so much of my own emotional reality in that scene.

This week we got a note from his teacher (the lovely and talented Mrs. Deane) that she would like him to join a Friendship Group. As far as I can tell this is a sort of guidance counselor led group of socialization exercises for young kids.

I think its a good idea. I think he really could benefit from guidance about appropriate behavior. Last week he was playing a Minecraft game at recess with some other kids and when they didn't follow his rules he flipped out. He had to be separated from some other boys. 

I know that in some cases he gets way too emotionally intense. Unexpected things bring him to the verge of tears and he is horrible at handling frustration and personal failure.

Last year in a fit of embarrassment over something minor (a mispronounced word? a bathroom accident? something...he started to cry and to prevent himself from the further embarrassment of crying he began to bite his hand. He freaked me out on that one. 

On the other hand he is 6. Life is intense when you are 6.

I felt initially afraid that there was something wrong with him. I was afraid I was failing him as a mother.

But

I thought about some of the hard times I had as a kid and think that I would have preferred the embarrassment of being singled out for help rather than being unable to be 'normal'.

I want him to be happy and to be able to succeed and I hope that a Friendship Group will take him in that direction.

Part of me of course hopes that I am not failing him or causing him to be stigmatized and especially hopes that he doesn't feel less for the process.

He is such a sweet sensitive boy and he is so enthusiastic about so much that I want to protect him. I know that protection in this case means giving him better tools rather than buffering him from the world but as a consummate escapist myself its not a natural move.

Wish us luck.

On Friday Megan and Pax and I went to Scearces to hang out and grab the truck.

Pax loved hanging out with Megan. Pax is now way to big for her crate and a crate any larger wont fit in the car. My next car will be station wagon shaped with a back space for a dog but for now she is back with the kids to the delight of all 3.

As you can see Megan wasted no time once we got there. She threw off her clothes and rushed the creek.

Megan and Pax were in heaven. They ran and swam and splashed.

They got a snack (and Megan got a new outfit on) and played in the yard picking and or sniffing flowers.

Then we all went up the hill to check out he fire damage.

There was a fire on the neighbors property and it spread onto Scearce's upper property.

The firemen said if they had been 10 minutes later the fire would have gotten so far into the woods as to make it uncontrollable.

Grandpa was happy because not only did they stop it but he wont have to mow up there for quite a while.

This picture though blurry is my favorite. Megan and Pax had another snack then ran out to play.There aren't many places that can just get out and go. They take to it so well though. Off they went exploring with Megan chatting away and Pax hanging close. It looks like what I want childhood to look like.

It looks like freedom and exploration and confidence and independence and I am very pleased. 

I went to Ikea and caught some more tadpoles and we all loaded into the truck for the ride home.

Saturday morning dawned beautiful and warm and perfect for our TRES Superhero 5K

We all dressed as Superman and ran.

David and Aunt Licia and I did the 5K then David and Kiernan did the 1 mile fun run.

Look at the superman curl...

ha

After the race we rushed home to put out the plants and put on  the uniform.

And rushed back to the school for this years first T-Ball game.

I never thought I'd say this  but "Go Yankees"

In the afternoon I had a Psych midterm.

On Sunday morning I finally sorted the kids clothes into summer/winter/too small piles and David fixed Megan's dresser.

He also got a new battery for the truck and put it in. This process was hindered by our odd Sunday-only break everything curse.

Everything we touched broke.

Stripped screws and sheared bolts here.

Broken window blinds in the picture above.

I put this pantry together backwards and it had to be drilled with new holes make it work.

By the end of he day we had caused ourselves about 2 full ours of correction work. It actually started to make us giggle as thing after thing went wrong.

In the end everything worked out and much was accomplished and exhausted we fell into bed (after I did my Bio midterm) wishing for an extra weekend for our weekend. 

Happy Spring