Saturday, September 11, 2004
Hi all! Sorry it's been so long! I got overwhelmed by how much I had to write and just sat down on the floor and cried rather than delving into two months of updating. However, I have now stopped sobbing on the carpet and am ready to delve like a... good delving thing, with much delvious virtue and honor.
Benny had an awesome time at the beach in South Carolina. Several developments have developed from last year's developments:
1. He stayed in one spot more. Last year and the year before, we spent our beach time going as far up and as far down the beach as we could get, or until we hit an arbitrary pregnant-Mommy-don't-go-no-farther spot, and then turning around and going all the way in the other direction. This year he was content to stay more or less within sight of the condo, which was nice for me since I was schlepping Sadie too. This development has much to do with the next two developments:
2. He was interested in SAND. In previous years he's been completely oblivious to sand but this year it was ALL ABOUT SAND. Making volcanos primarily. And tunnels. At one point we happened upon a couple of high school boys who had actually slaved and sweat until they made themselves a tunnel between two enormous holes, a tunnel you could actually crawl through. As soon as they got it big enough for both of them to crawl through, they were done with it and gave it over to Benny. This made a HUGE impression on him. He had more fun that day, crawling through that tunnel... it was amazing. He liked building castles, he liked drawing in the sand, he made huge murals all over the beach, he even made a giant sand solar system -- very engaged with SAND.
3. He was in love with the KIDS. We would go down to the beach, and he'd spy a group of kids, and he'd say ever so sweetly, "Oh, look Mom! I need to go and play with my friends now!" Everyone was a friend until they proved themselves otherwise -- AND THEY OCCASIONALLY DID. I guess I'm not a murderer, because if I had it in me to slay my fellow man, or actually slay some horrible little children, I would have done it this summer. Snotty little brats would ignore him, or tell him to go away, or whatever, when he came up and said, "Hi! Can I play with you?!" It REALLY hurt his feelings on MANY occasions and... well let's just say it made me pretty livid but what can you do? Fortunately for as many little ugly jerks as there were, there were many many friendly little happy children and Benny made SO MANY FRIENDS it was ridiculous. He was known up and down the beach. His favorite playmates were in the 6-10 year old range. He found girls he liked, boys he liked, all kinds of kids to play with. He threw himself into his playing with mad enthusiasm. Hunting for sand dollars, riding his wave board, jumping in the pool, etc. Everything was about "the kids." He'd say, "Mom, I see kids over there!" and I would say a little prayer that they'd be decent to him. Mostly they were. It's constantly surprising to me how extremely social he is -- it's magical to see him work his charm on people. The last week we were there, there was a family with three girls in it -- all significantly older than Benny, but all very jolly and imaginative and nice. They played Olympics in the pool (they were all girl swimmers, and they made him be Michael Phelps). They had races, medal ceremonies, they made up silly dives, it was SO AWESOME seeing him just effortlessly make friends with kids who would be sweet to him -- and SO HORRIFYING seeing him cry because some little jerk ignored his advances or said a mean thing. We learned to say, "Oh well! That little boy is mean! But it doesn't matter, I'll find someone nice to play with in a little while!" What a dear, sweet, beautiful, open soul Benny has. I loved him so fiercely, watching him put himself out there with these kids he didn't know -- getting hurt by some, playing ecstatically with others -- it was very hard/wonderful to watch.
Right, going to post this in case I have to go. Next post will be about schooly things.
Benny had an awesome time at the beach in South Carolina. Several developments have developed from last year's developments:
1. He stayed in one spot more. Last year and the year before, we spent our beach time going as far up and as far down the beach as we could get, or until we hit an arbitrary pregnant-Mommy-don't-go-no-farther spot, and then turning around and going all the way in the other direction. This year he was content to stay more or less within sight of the condo, which was nice for me since I was schlepping Sadie too. This development has much to do with the next two developments:
2. He was interested in SAND. In previous years he's been completely oblivious to sand but this year it was ALL ABOUT SAND. Making volcanos primarily. And tunnels. At one point we happened upon a couple of high school boys who had actually slaved and sweat until they made themselves a tunnel between two enormous holes, a tunnel you could actually crawl through. As soon as they got it big enough for both of them to crawl through, they were done with it and gave it over to Benny. This made a HUGE impression on him. He had more fun that day, crawling through that tunnel... it was amazing. He liked building castles, he liked drawing in the sand, he made huge murals all over the beach, he even made a giant sand solar system -- very engaged with SAND.
3. He was in love with the KIDS. We would go down to the beach, and he'd spy a group of kids, and he'd say ever so sweetly, "Oh, look Mom! I need to go and play with my friends now!" Everyone was a friend until they proved themselves otherwise -- AND THEY OCCASIONALLY DID. I guess I'm not a murderer, because if I had it in me to slay my fellow man, or actually slay some horrible little children, I would have done it this summer. Snotty little brats would ignore him, or tell him to go away, or whatever, when he came up and said, "Hi! Can I play with you?!" It REALLY hurt his feelings on MANY occasions and... well let's just say it made me pretty livid but what can you do? Fortunately for as many little ugly jerks as there were, there were many many friendly little happy children and Benny made SO MANY FRIENDS it was ridiculous. He was known up and down the beach. His favorite playmates were in the 6-10 year old range. He found girls he liked, boys he liked, all kinds of kids to play with. He threw himself into his playing with mad enthusiasm. Hunting for sand dollars, riding his wave board, jumping in the pool, etc. Everything was about "the kids." He'd say, "Mom, I see kids over there!" and I would say a little prayer that they'd be decent to him. Mostly they were. It's constantly surprising to me how extremely social he is -- it's magical to see him work his charm on people. The last week we were there, there was a family with three girls in it -- all significantly older than Benny, but all very jolly and imaginative and nice. They played Olympics in the pool (they were all girl swimmers, and they made him be Michael Phelps). They had races, medal ceremonies, they made up silly dives, it was SO AWESOME seeing him just effortlessly make friends with kids who would be sweet to him -- and SO HORRIFYING seeing him cry because some little jerk ignored his advances or said a mean thing. We learned to say, "Oh well! That little boy is mean! But it doesn't matter, I'll find someone nice to play with in a little while!" What a dear, sweet, beautiful, open soul Benny has. I loved him so fiercely, watching him put himself out there with these kids he didn't know -- getting hurt by some, playing ecstatically with others -- it was very hard/wonderful to watch.
Right, going to post this in case I have to go. Next post will be about schooly things.
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