Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Camping

Sidney is contemplating why a three year old doesn't loose their teeth. A typical conversation in our household. I intended to post photos of our camping adventure over the weekend, but I left my camera at my mom's house. I admit, Saturday morning was a bit rough. Grouping around the camper looking for  coffee as Sidney screamed about going outside (a "patient" 3 year old unable to wait), I was wondering why we do this. I needed to buck up and snap out of it. By noon, seeing Tom and the kids with his undivided attention, I was happy we made the effort.

We had the opportunity to meet a young teen with what I believe was a cochlear implant. As he strolled past Eli, they struck up quick conversation. After a few minutes, Eli said "what is that on your head?" I cringed, thinking, how many times has this kid explained? He told Eli in articulate detail about his medical condition. Eli's response, "oh" in a disinterested manner. He was focused on picking up the conversation they started prior to his discovery. It was the first time I have thought about Eli's reaction to special needs. He interacts with the person, not the special need. If you are thinking, duh, of course he does, I can tell you this is a big deal.

I wish I could say Sidney fared as well. She played with a group of kids for upwards of 3 hours before anyone noticed her hands. After they noticed, they squatted down, surrounding her in her toddler lawn chair, grabbing her hands for inspection. Mama bear was about to growl, but Sidney took care of the situation.  She took her pint sized foot and kicked her in the face. Now, before you let out a cheer, remember, she shouldn't be kicking other kids. I do understand she has a right to her own body, and she felt threatened. And it was more of a nudge than a kick. There was no injury.


 OK, back to the land of Panda's and more VBS. Good thing I am a list maker.

1 comment:

Rachelle said...

We really want to take the boys camping soon. Glad you were brave enough to get out there and try with 3 kids. Your my hero!