Josh's summer voyage of self-discovery
This summer has been one in which Josh is learning to be with himself and enjoy his own company. Our neighborhood is such that there are not alot of kids and it tends to be very isolating. Part of the reason is the heat. We have had temps of over 100 for the last few weeks or so and for the next 9 days at least our highs will range from 108-116 with lows of 82-85 at night. We tend to hibernate during these times in the AC. Alot of people I know have been mentioning feelings of being lethargic with the heat. We nod in understanding. We do get out every once in awhile and do things with others. Total isolation is NOT good for son or mom lol. So far his self-discovery voyage has included:
- many drawings of super hero characters he has created
- reading ALOT - he has re-read the last 3 Harry Potter stories in anticipation of the party for the release at midnight tomorrow at a local bookstore that we WILL be attending
- listening to mom read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in anticipation of going with the homeschooling group to see the movie next week
- watching Harry Potter movies in anticipation of the latest movie being released in November
- studying his birding books for FUN
- drawing of birds from said books
- reading various web sites and forums about birding
- going birding with whoever he can sweet talk into, his dad, his mom, friends, doesn't matter
- researching the birds expected to see at Great Basin National Park which is where we are going for vacation the second week of August - notice a theme here in the last few things :)
- playing NHL on the Playstation 2 with his big brother to celebrate the players and owners FINALLY coming to an agreement - YES there will be a 2005-2006 season!!
- filling and re-filling our hummingbird feeder and watching the Anna's hummingbird (who he has named Arnold) and the black-chinned hummingbird coming to partake of the sweet nectar along with a hooded oriole who ocassionally stops by
- going to the movies to see such new releases as Madagascar and renting movies newly released on DVD such as Tarzan II, Pacifier etc.
- watching various shows on Animal Planet, the History Channel, National Geographic channel etc because hey they're interesting and fun to watch and it doesn't matter that they are EDUCATIONAL too
- playing catch and hitting the baseball at the park with his dad
- hanging out with hockey friends at least one day a week or so, their house, our house, ice rink, doesn't matter where
- riding his BRAND NEW BIKE with front brakes and GEARS and earning those bike warrior wounds
- playing with the BRAT (oh I mean the kitten) and watching the older cat and the kitten wrestle and such just like he and HIS older brother
- and many other minutae that this mom's brain can't remember
I have at times become worried with the lack of neighborhood kids and yet I look at things such as this list and realize he is "owning" his responsiblity for "being" who he is and what interests him. He is not a social outcast as we do get together with others and enjoy those times too. Solitude and learning to enjoy one's own company are things that in this day and age are very hard for people to do and yet are vital to learning who we are as a person. Important lessons in life he and I BOTH are learning this summer.
- many drawings of super hero characters he has created
- reading ALOT - he has re-read the last 3 Harry Potter stories in anticipation of the party for the release at midnight tomorrow at a local bookstore that we WILL be attending
- listening to mom read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in anticipation of going with the homeschooling group to see the movie next week
- watching Harry Potter movies in anticipation of the latest movie being released in November
- studying his birding books for FUN
- drawing of birds from said books
- reading various web sites and forums about birding
- going birding with whoever he can sweet talk into, his dad, his mom, friends, doesn't matter
- researching the birds expected to see at Great Basin National Park which is where we are going for vacation the second week of August - notice a theme here in the last few things :)
- playing NHL on the Playstation 2 with his big brother to celebrate the players and owners FINALLY coming to an agreement - YES there will be a 2005-2006 season!!
- filling and re-filling our hummingbird feeder and watching the Anna's hummingbird (who he has named Arnold) and the black-chinned hummingbird coming to partake of the sweet nectar along with a hooded oriole who ocassionally stops by
- going to the movies to see such new releases as Madagascar and renting movies newly released on DVD such as Tarzan II, Pacifier etc.
- watching various shows on Animal Planet, the History Channel, National Geographic channel etc because hey they're interesting and fun to watch and it doesn't matter that they are EDUCATIONAL too
- playing catch and hitting the baseball at the park with his dad
- hanging out with hockey friends at least one day a week or so, their house, our house, ice rink, doesn't matter where
- riding his BRAND NEW BIKE with front brakes and GEARS and earning those bike warrior wounds
- playing with the BRAT (oh I mean the kitten) and watching the older cat and the kitten wrestle and such just like he and HIS older brother
- and many other minutae that this mom's brain can't remember
I have at times become worried with the lack of neighborhood kids and yet I look at things such as this list and realize he is "owning" his responsiblity for "being" who he is and what interests him. He is not a social outcast as we do get together with others and enjoy those times too. Solitude and learning to enjoy one's own company are things that in this day and age are very hard for people to do and yet are vital to learning who we are as a person. Important lessons in life he and I BOTH are learning this summer.
2 Comments:
Oh, yeah. Alot of the same going on here. It is so hot that we don't go out much, either and never see another soul when we do venture out. We are using the hurricanes as an excuse for spending time with family in much cooler NC mountains!
When do you start school back up? I think we will start early August.
Oooooh, I am jealous. Cool mountains and in my birth state too! :) Josh and I are going to become a litttle more "focused in our studies" lol within the next few weeks. I am trying to let him guide the both of us in what interests him. I will continue to offer things that I find interesting because many times this spawns things for him too.
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