He was eating a fudge pop for dessert the other day. He was sitting at the table and said, "Mom, this tastes like a slice of the moon. A little bit of chocolaty heaven goodness." He is so stinking cute.
More from Cam....
"I know who our first President was (notice the past tense). Obama. He rules the world." I tried to clarify with Camden that Obama is our current President but he just could not wrap his head around it.
"I want to go to Egypt. It's full of booby traps. I can see them from our house."
"Don't forget to pray for Brandon (our beloved dog) in heaven. I need to seem him again. I really really miss him." (Cam was a year old when we put Brandon down but he really really misses him.)
"I am allergic to dogs and cats and cottonwood. I wonder if I am allergic to mom. But I don't sneeze around any of them."
And the ah ha moment that I learned this week about Colin. I kept trying to figure out what magical piece of Christmas break allowed the boys to get along so well. It was a like a little fairy came down and sprinkled happy smiles and kindness in our house for two weeks. The boys played so well together. They shared, they plotted, they built forts...it was wonderful. I had so much fun doing all sorts of different activities with them because we were all so happy.
Yesterday after school Colin just ripped into Camden. He was yelling at him. He did not want to be around him. Colin was crying. Camden was crying. And I had an ah ha moment.
Everyday when Colin gets home from school he is in an awful mood. It breaks my heart because I know his teacher gets the best of him at school and we get the worst of him at home. (He's still a good kid, I just hate seeing him so sad.) I realized that he is just totally worn out. He is mentally exhausted. I have to go back to the days when he was a toddler. We avoided noisy places and crowds with him because he would end up crying if he got too agitated.
Cue in school. Noise and chaos is a constant. His teacher is WONDERFUL (and that is with ALL CAPS!!!)! The classroom itself is organized and his day is structured. But, the class is full of kids, the lunchroom is crowded. The arrival and dismissal process is noisy and crowded. I imagine every day when he gets on the bus to come home, his heart skips a beat. I am sure that he is on edge wondering if I'll be there to pick him up. He still asks me to promise him everyday that I will be at the bus stop waiting for him. I have never given him any reason to indicate that I would not be there. And we have a plan set up with neighbors if for some emergency reason I am not there. The kid just worries. (Wonder where he gets that from?)
I bet he is stressed and on edge most of the day. When he comes home, he is just exhausted. We don't have much time between him getting home and bedtime. He gets home at 4pm. We try to have them upstairs by 6:30pm for a bath and bedtime between 7:30-7:45pm. If he has a boyscouts thing that gets pushed to 8pm which I do not like but we just have to deal with it.
I really want to get him involved in karate after school but he is just so tired. I wonder if he had an activity right after school if it would make things better or worse. Does anyone out there have an experience with this? I just keep thinking that if he had a way to release this anxiety, our nights might go better.
I don't get "happy Colin" after school. Sure, he bounces home and runs to greet the bus driver on the other side of the block. But the minute we walk in the door he is either pouting, yelling at Camden, whining about not having something, complaining about having to go to boyscouts, the grocery store, the moon. Seriously, it almost seems like his way of processing things is just to be in a sour mood for 2 hours.
Usually, by dinner, he has turned the corner and he is happy and smiling. But those two hours are brutal. I have to admit, I think a "schedule" after school would be a good idea. We have taken him out of all of his activities after school except Boyscouts. That keeps us plenty busy. But I almost feel like he needs a physical release. It's been hard to establish a routine after school because there are always so many different variables. I might need to run to the store with them. We might need to catch up on homework or a boyscout project. Lately we have made a lot of after school trips to Walgreens for meds for Cam. We go to the library some days. I like to take them with me when I return books so they have a chance to check out new books. It has just been really hard to get into a routine after school.
I'm not sure which way to go with this. Do I schedule something after school as a "release" for Colin or do I establish a routine at home where he has some time to himself? He's going to see that as a punishment but it might do him some good to not have to interact with Cam the moment he walks in the door. Cam is so excited to see Colin and tell him about his day. I'm just not sure how to turn after school time into that joyous occasion that I always felt after school. How do you all handle after school time? Routine, classes, activities, cookies and milk?
Just so I don't end this blog on a down note, here are some pictures of last weeks snow. It's all melted now but we are supposed to get more on Sunday night. The low on Sunday is -14. Now that's cold people. 
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