And Can I Just Say....

The Boy rocks. Have I ever mentioned that? Oh I have? Well I'm saying it again. The Boy rocks.
I've been watching his Tourette's to see if it made an appearance when school ended in May. Also wondering if tics would increase since future ex left. The interesting thing is, I saw no increase in tics when future ex left. If anything, things rather calmed down. His anxieties are still there. But not as great. He is under much less pressure without future ex around. I'm not saying future ex was a bad dad. He was actually an amazing primary care giver - before he rather checked out to start talking to his girl thing on the phone all day. Before that, he rocked. I never had to worry about the kids when I traveled or went out. But he had high expectations for The Boy. The Boy is incredibly smart. And I think some people - including his own parents - have mistakenly translated that to mean that he should also be incredibly mature. Not so. He's six - almost seven. And he acts like it. He's loud, silly, impulsive - typical six yr old. Future ex had trouble with the spontaneous exuberance of both kids. And other issues. I won't go into it. Suffice to say (after droning on and on) that this house is a bit more relaxed since future ex left.

So no increase in tics because dad left. Cool.

Since school let out in May, the boredom didn't really hit for a while. But once the first week of being home all day lost its appeal, I noticed more verbal tics appearing. Like right now. I'm sitting here typing while the boys watch Tom & Jerry. And from the couch behind me, I hear that familiar little "Hmm...hmm..." sound. It's very punctuated. Not like your drawing it out in thought. I think I've described it before as the kind of "hmm" you give when you're listening to someone tell a story and you're periodically letting them know you're listening and you find it interesting. Also, the low little...I guess it's almost like a...what would I call it. I guess it's like a little dog whine? Does that make sense? Like the sound a human makes when imitating a dog begging? But it's very low volume and low pitched in his throat. Hardly audible. I also noticed an increase in the excessive blinking.

So that tells me that boredom has hit. Thankfully, this week began his daily foray into the YMCA summer "camp". Which is odd because it's at an elementary school. My three year old was very disappointed that there were no tents in the woods when we went to pick him up. But it's keeping The Boy engaged and interacting with kids his age. As opposed to the entire day he would spend researching dinosaurs on the computer, if I let him. Seriously, you should try to stump him with a question about dinosaurs. The kid is a veritable sponge of knowledge when it's a subject he loves. And man - he LOVES him some dinosaurs. I actually need to find him a site that teaches Latin roots. He's learning so many already from the dinosaur names. He wants to know more. I'm thinking he will be one of those rare 2nd graders that can decipher medical journals. I don't know. We'll see.

But The Boy is doing pretty well. I get glowing reports every day from the YMCA counselors that The Boy is "so sweet" and such a wonderful kid. I love that. I have to hang on to these memories in case his teen years are the complete opposite.

Meanwhile, Lil Bro is doing well. He's been visiting a neighbor's house this week for day care. She has an adorable daughter who is about 6 months older than Lil Bro. They play well together. But my boys have a bit of a problem when it's time to clean up. I blame my own impatience - I tend to get mad and just send them on to whatever they need to do while I pick up their toys for them. Not good. So my neighbor told him that he can come back tomorrow if he'll help pick up the toys. Took a good 10 minutes of negotiations to get him to grudgingly agree.

My kids rock, though. Did I mention that?