Summer break

Parents of older kids know that summer isn’t always about time off.  We try to keep them busy so that we don’t hear ‘I’m bored”  but we also try to keep them engaged so that it isn’t a huge shock to their system when school starts back up.

I have been playing card and math games with Kelly while Joe is napping.  She has no interest in aforementioned MMORPG’s.  We have been playing rummy, skip-bo, phase 10, countdown, blink, and kings in the corners.  I think it’s good to keep her engaged and her mind working at sorting numbers and patterns.  She would just as easily sit in front of the tv all day, but I feel like I have to keep that from happening.  The challenge is doing it in a way that she has no idea that’s what I’m doing.  Each day around 11 I feed Joe lunch, put him down for a nap and then offer her lunch and an hours worth of games.  So far it is just a fun time with mom.

The boys are a completely different story.  They don’t want to engage at all.  Well David will sometimes, but usually not.  Kurt…forget it.  He just wants to be on the computer.  I guess that’s better than just staring at the tv.  At least they are solving puzzles and working out strategies.

Joe is another story right now.  He is teething in some molars and they are leaving him tired and craaanky. On top of that he seems to have come down with a cold this week. He is leaking from his eyes, nose, and mouth.  It really is quite disgusting.  The kids and I feel bad when he wants to give us loves, because we don’t want to kiss his face and share his germs.  

Last night David and Kelly had a jr high event with the church.  Normally Kurt would just drive them, but I needed to get out of this house.  I felt a little bad about making him stay home with the sick baby, but truly it was best for all involved.  I just needed some space and some quiet.  I dropped the kids off and met up with 2 girlfriends who were also dropping off kids and we went and sat at Starbucks and just chatted about the kids, and the newest thing to enter our lives…dating.  Yep that’s right Kurt went on his first date last Sunday afternoon.  He took a girl to a matinee movie.  She is a sweet girl, but a bit..well…blonde!!  He paid for her movie and drinks, and snacks.  There was some problem with the movie and they ended up giving everyone a free ticket.  He was annoyed that she kept hers.  When I asked him how it went he just said it was fine, when I asked if they would go out again, he said probably not.  When I asked why he said well she couldn’t really have a decent conversation, because she only ever talked and never listened, and well because she kept the free pass.  This is new territory for me and I’m slightly worried.  I want to protect him, but I also know the only way for him to learn this one is by experience.