Break Through

Freddie's learning to tie his shoes.  The level of patience required for this rivals potty training.  No joke.  Freddie has been easily frustrated wanting to get it right way.  There have been tears and deep breaths.  Thankfully I have some successes to refer to:  hard work in swimming has equaled progress.  I use the hard work over time that he's put into swimming and reading as concrete examples of being able to do anything with the right amount of practice.  

Thankfully we've both stuck with it and around day ten he actually got a bow!!!  Amazing!  And then on day 11 he did it again, twice!  He's on a roll now.

About a month ago I decided we would take the plunge into learning to tie.  I bought him shoes with laces but it took me several weeks to muster up the courage to add the instruction into our routine.  He's got a lot going on already with homework, being responsible for all of his school supplies and winter gear to and from school (yet to lose anything!!),  and his nightly reading.  To make things "easy" I decided the only instruction would be when he put on his sneakers and it would consist of me doing one side as a model and him trying the other side 3 or 4 times before I finished it off for him.  Low pressure.

In case you're curious, we're going with the straight up old fashion bow tying.  I considered the double bunny ear method but after trying it a few times myself, decided it also required quite a bit of dexterity and fine motor precision so I figured we'd just cut to the chase and front load the work rather than having to learn another method down the road.  If you consult google there are lots of "new" methods to tying, but none of them seem to be actual shortcuts that'll make life easier.  Not for Freddie, anyway.

Probably the best thing we did was practice with a jump rope around his legs.  He was able to really see where the different strings were going, what the loops looked like, and he was able to find some success and build confidence. Also, sitting behind or next to him was important so that he could see what to do with the right and left hands.  I suppose if he was a lefty sitting across from him would have been better so that he could mimic a mirror image.

Lots of hard work and that makes the success feel even better.  He's so proud of himself and I swear seeing him like that is one of my favorite parts of being a Mama.

Introducing Thomas

Here he is, Freddie's new friend Thomas, sitting in "the beach chair looking at the dolphins and starfish."  Freddie searched for my camera yesterday afternoon specifically to take a few pictures of Thomas at the beach.

Thomas sitting in the beach chair.  Photo courtesy of Freddie.

And here he is again, playing.  Well, patiently waiting his turn.  Thomas gets told he can wait "one minute and then he can have a turn" quite a bit.

Thomas showed up at our house a few weeks ago.  He came not long after Freddie started telling me he wanted to go to school with the big boys.  He'll put on his backpack and carry around his lunch box, give me a kiss goodbye, and tell me he's going to school with his friends.  His friend "Big Boy" finally got the name of Thomas after about a week of playing at our house.  Freddie opens the front door a few afternoons a week to let him in to play.

Freddie's been very much into imaginative play over the last 6 or so months, and the scenarios get more and more complex with each day.  It's hard for me to keep up with what's going on since he uses few or no props to give me some clues.  Often he'll slouch his shoulders down and just about roll his eyes with this look of disappointment if I don't realize the baby fox is sitting by my feet waiting for some milk.  Get with it, Mom.

Sometimes when Thomas arrives and they "go to school" together I feel a little tug at my heart because I feel like I'm not providing him with something he needs, either attention from me or time with kids his age even though this play is developmentally normal.  Nothing like a little Mommy guilt, eh.

I have vivid memories of instructing my grandmother to hold open the back door of her yellow Oldsmobile Cutlass for my gaggle of "friends" to climb in with me, including the likes of kids named Wheatsie and Stapler.  For years and years she kept the list of their names written on a scrap of paper in the kitchen "junk drawer."  There were at least seven or so regulars who'd hang around to play, and their names every bit as crazy creative as "Wheatsie" and "Stapler."  Maybe that was a New Orleans thing, y'all.

And Charlie's buddy was "Duke."  Yeah, I know what you're thinking.  I'd name my kid Wheatsie long before I'd name him Duke, too.

I don't know what ever happened to Wheatsie and Stapler.  It'll be interesting to see how long Thomas comes over to play.  I have a feeling when cabin fever sets in this winter we may end up seeing a lot of Thomas and he may even bring a few friends.