Circus Forticus: July 2012

Sunday, July 29, 2012

365 project: week 30

This week: The boys discover silly string; we go to a concert in the park; Henry snacks on a whole raw tomato; and we head to Uncle Kent and Aunt Popi's house for some pool time.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Friends, I'm not gonna lie: It's been a rough summer so far. Liam and Max have been home all summer, and they are, in the parlance of people who are much nicer than me, "challenging." I'm sure their behavior is (mostly) normal for their age and development, but the constant bickering, hitting, complaints, tears, regrets, and other dramatic productions have really put a damper on summer fun. You might think that with one of us working from home and the other one home during the day, we wouldn't have a problem keeping our offspring home and yet still in check. And I suppose if you thought that I wouldn't laugh at you ... much. The truth is that during the day, I still have to work, and to do that work, I have to be able to concentrate. And sure, Mike is home during the day, but he's out at night doing the grueling (and trust me that it is grueling because I spent one hot summer working there, so I know what an effort it really is) work of making sure our nation's race cars run on quality tires that won't explode out from underneath them. He is working with heavy machines that have the potential to smash body parts that aren't carefully kept out of the way (sadly, another thing I know firsthand about his workplace). So during the day, the man needs to get a little sleep.

Which brings me to our problem. The big boys have behaved more than badly enough this summer to earn all of the consequences we've doled out to them: banishment from restaurants and grocery stores, the packing away of all video games/game systems in the house, not being able to attend family parties, the whole ball of wax. But it hasn't made much of a difference. So we're trying a new tactic: day camp! Not because we are incompetent parents who just can't handle our kids, but because it is the best thing for all of us. The boys started camp today at the same church where Henry goes to daycare. It's good for Henry because he is a smart kid who understands and has been jealous all summer that his brothers got to stay home while he still had to go to school. It's good for Liam and Max because they are separated by age group, so they have less time together to grate on each other's nerves, plus they'll be taking trips to the local swimming hole almost every day, and visiting the water park, bowling alley, and all sorts of other places that their working parents just haven't had the chance to take them to. It's good for me because I can get more of my work done during the day, and not already be totally frazzled by the time we get to dinner, therefore rendering every single bedtime an exercise in utter frustration. And it's good for Mike because he really does need to get more sleep. Actually, it's probably the least good for Mike, because it really limits the time he gets to see the boys, but I'm hoping that less time that is more peaceful will turn out to be better than more time that is filled with fights.

Today is the first day they all went to camp/school, and when I went to pick them up, I found about 30 kids playing in the gym. Some toddlers, some older kids, a pretty good mix. And wouldn't you know it? Down at one end, playing together so sweetly, as if that's something they do every single day (hah!), were my three boys. I asked each boy later on what the best part of his day was. And they each gave me a variation on the same answer: "My favorite part was when I got to play with my brothers in the gym at the end of the day. I missed them!"