Kid Stuff

Took the kids and Micah's buddy to shop for the fireworks Micah had been saving up for. 1st place in Ohio wanted me to sign a statement saying we'd take them out of Ohio. I couldn't lie. Second place in Indiana didn't make me sign any such thing. So now under close supervision we will let him detonate these things that blow up. (sigh) And since he's almost 12, his brain still has not matured to the point of controlling the occasional impulsive act. I know at puberty a lot of remarkable changes happen in the brain to ensure a healthy adult. In the meantime, Micah (and everyone within a 5-mile radius of Micah) are at risk. This age is more difficult in many ways than age 3.
School is out and the kids couldn't be happier. Still trying to get Nathanael to work on being organized. Smartest kid in his class but by far not the most organized. Just not really mature in keeping schedules, no matter how much I try. He's only hurting himself. His capacity is to get straight A's and then some. He tests well and makes straight A's on stuff done in class. The only thing that occasionally hurts him and brings something to a B is when he forgets to make something up, or doesn't do the whole project. Somethhing dumb like that. I've bought him planners. No workie. Then a small notebook for his pocket that worked for a while until he ran it through the wash. Then he took weeks to tell me that. When a couple of quarters could have bought him another. (sigh) MUST I do EVERYTHING? He has friends who are so organized and "cumplidos" that they get straight A's by studying everything (because their brains aren't trivia traps like Nathanael's so they make every effort to stuff info in there) and just being organized and focused. They don't have hobbies like designing fonts and submitting them to font design websites. They don't design tee shirts and make plans for business. They don't obsess over the impending ice age (okay that stage has seemed to wane a little...thankfully). These are things I love about Nathanael but unchecked he stays up till all hours of the night occupied with these things, then falls asleep in chemistry.
Last mid-term he was getting nearly straight A's so we'll see what happens for the year. Report cards for both kids coming soon. I don't expect Micah's will be so good since he missed so much school this last quarter due to the headaches and doctor appointments and the poison ivy that made him swell up like a blowfish.

Next went to the huge Friendship, Ind. flea market/muzzle-loading event. It's a 9-day event, twice a year. If you can't abide lines and lines of rednecks, NDN cooking, Senegalese dealers selling trucks full of beads, the Ecuadoran andino flute that lulls you into a coma with a muzack "Hey Jude" while the Mixtec one plays a narcolepsy-inducing Kokopellish love song, mounds of mildewed junk hauled out of Hoosier basements and attics everywhere, loads of discount tennis socks, piles of tee shirts spray painted with an impossibly-siliconed cartoon girl standing seductively by a 10-point buck and captioned by "Nice Rack", and desperate dealers pandering half-priced Hugo Boss, THEN....Friendship is NOT for you! BUT...since I like all these things (except the tee-shirt deer chick), I tend to make the semi-annual pilgramage.

This year, I bought an AWESOME hand-made cedar basket for $15, a little puzzle/electronic track for my little niece and nephew, and a cheap but extremely attractively designed watch ($10!). Micah bought, what was it, a sort of pellet gun? Quirky Nathanael looked at antique clocks and noticed when fonts were misprinted on billboads ("The serif isn't full enough!"). It was a fun day.