Autumn 2017

It was nice to settle back into the rhythm of school after a summer packed with activity and impromptu adventures.  Josef responded really well to his new teacher and his larger class of fellow kindergartners.  There were many familiar faces and lots of new friends to be made.  For Josef’s 5th birthday we decided to have another huge bash and invite the whole class; as his birthday is the first one in the class it is a nice way to get to know the new families and kick off a new year.  Once again our yard was overrun with 25 shrieking children, and it was a joyful chaotic delight.  We rented a giant bouncy house which–contrary to the explicit warnings printed thereon–allowed pretty much all 25 of the kids to go ballistic simultaneously.  We seemed to average a goose egg, black eye, or bloody nose, and the accompanying tears, once every 30 minutes or so, which isn’t too bad.  It’s really only a casualty rate of one per twelve child-hours of play, which I think falls squarely within OSHA regulations.

We also had a much anticipated pinata, which was pretty exciting.  The children lined up in order of age and they all got 3 whacks until it burst.  The problem was it tended to slightly rupture little bits of candy every so often, causing a horde of children to descend while the whacker was still swinging madly.  Somehow we managed to escape without any head traumas.  All of his little classmates are so dear–it made me so happy to see them all playing together in the back yard on a sunny late-summer day.

Josef’s marquis gift was a playdoh factory with “conveyors, extruders, and molds” (spoken with the Rs and Ls dropped, of course).  He was absolutely delighted to receive this coveted item from Oma und Opa.  Also in the loot pile was a real jigsaw puzzle of pirates, and a Choose Your Own Adventure book.  He also received his own set of metal gardening tools from Gramheart, which immediately came in handy as he and I replanted all the beds in the front of the house.  We look forward to seeing all the beautiful flowers emerge this spring.

Through the fall it was exciting to watch Josef’s abilities and competencies continue to grow.  Things that used to need supervision or assistance he can now just accomplished by himself.  One night Gramheart took him to a play and it went really late.  Rachael and I were already in bed when he was dropped off, so he just made his way through the dark house, put on his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and climbed into bed.

The flip side to his growing competence is his absolute insistence on doing things his own way.  He often refuses any assistance or input, going about his task in a completely inept way which naturally leads to huge frustration.  He does not handle frustration well.  I hope he can learn to use the frustration at failure to inspire a redoubled effort at success, as this kind of tenacity will serve him well in life, but as for now that needs a lot of work.  I definitely recognize in myself the desire to do things my own way, regardless of the cost; to fail on my own terms rather than succeed on someone else’s.  I too struggle with keeping my cool.  I hope that I can teach him to make the most out of these traits, and mitigate the negatives.