![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weekend update
May. 11th, 2009 09:53 pmI had a very busy weekend. For the first time in way too long, I spent time with all 5 of my kids. Saturday was baseball practice and photos for Sam, and I had Dan and Elyssia along too. The practice was at one of the local elementary schools, so Dan and Elyssia got to play on the playground while Sam fielded fly balls, and practiced sliding, hitting, and throwing.
After I dropped them all at the house, Sam wanted to come back to my house to watch the new iCarly on TV, then we stayed up late watching a movie we'd both seen at the theater, Lava Girl and Shark Boy, which was as about as good as it sounds like it would be. It was Sam's first experience seeing a movie on TV after having seen it on the big screen; she said it was sort of weird, and I agreed. She spent the night and we both slept until noon, which I know I needed, having only gotten about 4 hours of sleep Friday night.
On the way back to the house we stopped so Sam could get some flowers and a card for her mom (which she appreciated), and I swapped her for Mike, and we went to the movies to see Star Trek.
It was good. It was different. It takes a few liberties with the science and the canonical storyline, but nothing so devastating that the movie still was good. I'm sure for those without an emotional investment in the original series that these exceptions weren't notable. Go see it. After the theater and a side-trip to Walmart to get bandages and nepsporin for Mike's hand which he scrapped good and deal falling off of his bike, it was back to the house and swapped him for Brandon.
Brandon has been talking about wanting to drive for five years now. I believe he is finally serious about it now, as he is actually taking the time and looking forward to practicing. We go to the local community college where they have a nice big, empty parking lot where he can practice turning without ending up in the opposite lane and/or jumping the (imaginary) curb (almost there), stopping without giving his old man whiplash (nearly consistently mastered), accelerating without red-lining the tach (still having too much fun doing), parallel parking and ending within the chosen lines (not at all close), and just generally building up his confidence to where we can go to some side-streets and do some real driving (not quite there yet).
Surprisingly, it has been a nice time for us. It's been fun, constructive, and for the first time since we've been trying this, relaxing--for the both of us. I'm hoping this is one of those sure signs that we are becoming more peers than parent-and-child. I am very much looking forward to that. Even if he never learns how to drive.
After I dropped them all at the house, Sam wanted to come back to my house to watch the new iCarly on TV, then we stayed up late watching a movie we'd both seen at the theater, Lava Girl and Shark Boy, which was as about as good as it sounds like it would be. It was Sam's first experience seeing a movie on TV after having seen it on the big screen; she said it was sort of weird, and I agreed. She spent the night and we both slept until noon, which I know I needed, having only gotten about 4 hours of sleep Friday night.
On the way back to the house we stopped so Sam could get some flowers and a card for her mom (which she appreciated), and I swapped her for Mike, and we went to the movies to see Star Trek.
It was good. It was different. It takes a few liberties with the science and the canonical storyline, but nothing so devastating that the movie still was good. I'm sure for those without an emotional investment in the original series that these exceptions weren't notable. Go see it. After the theater and a side-trip to Walmart to get bandages and nepsporin for Mike's hand which he scrapped good and deal falling off of his bike, it was back to the house and swapped him for Brandon.
Brandon has been talking about wanting to drive for five years now. I believe he is finally serious about it now, as he is actually taking the time and looking forward to practicing. We go to the local community college where they have a nice big, empty parking lot where he can practice turning without ending up in the opposite lane and/or jumping the (imaginary) curb (almost there), stopping without giving his old man whiplash (nearly consistently mastered), accelerating without red-lining the tach (still having too much fun doing), parallel parking and ending within the chosen lines (not at all close), and just generally building up his confidence to where we can go to some side-streets and do some real driving (not quite there yet).
Surprisingly, it has been a nice time for us. It's been fun, constructive, and for the first time since we've been trying this, relaxing--for the both of us. I'm hoping this is one of those sure signs that we are becoming more peers than parent-and-child. I am very much looking forward to that. Even if he never learns how to drive.
