A Wild Wacky Summer

Thank God we have great neighbors. The other day, after playing in the front yard for a few hours my son had the idea to take his bucket of water on a tour. He some how managed to drag a storage tub full of water over to our neighbor's house, ring the doorbell then climb in before they could answer the door. This is a picture  that my daughter drew. It  is a very accurate representation of what they saw when they opened the door. Ben said that when they answered he said, "Blub Blub in the tub." They stared at him for a minute then just slowly shut the door.....really what would you do?
     I have taken a break from my blogging mostly because we have had such a busy summer. We have been camping and traveling to see relatives and all in all enjoying each other. The summer has been good, but not without problems. The one day I tried to remind Ben of what education was like he melted down until about midnight. Apparently doing math over the summer is paramount to child abuse in his mind. He doesn't just get mad, or upset....he melts. He turns into this blob of anger and sadness that has no rhyme or reason. I tried to explain that most kids, (including his sister who was forced to "enjoy" math camp) review information over the summer. Finally at midnight when I could still hear sobbing from his room I told him we would take a longer break from the evils of education. I didn't say it like that but it was midnight so I can't really remember what I promised him.
     Since then he has been doing fun, strange things like sitting in a tub of water on our neighbors porch. He has enjoyed many activities this summer. It has been a different life for sure. He has played with friends, even had phone calls from other children! I have been pleased and bewildered by his social progress. Interestingly enough though, as "normal" as I think he has become he still has a different way about him. We recently went to a party at a friends home. There were about 12 boys in the pool all around Ben's age. They were playing like boys do.... I watched. Ben waited all of about three seconds to get in the pool, but he did not join in. He payed them no attention at all. He jumped in and floated on a raft and jumped in again and it seemed like he was all alone in the pool. He caught my eye several times to smile and wave. He was happy. That is what counts after all. I think in the past all the commotion and rough housing would have sent him into meltdown, but now.....he just played.
I have been impressed with how well he handles things, (except school work) and he notices too. He did something the other day that I know for a fact he would not have done a year ago. We were at a baseball game and a ball was hit into the stands. Somehow my son ended up with the game ball for about two minutes. It became very clear that a boy had been hit with the ball and then to add insult to injury he didn't even get to keep the ball. The crowd was yelling and encouraging my son to give the ball to the hurt boy and without hesitation he walked over and gave it to him. He then came back to us sat down and tried to hold it together. Apparently he REALLY wanted that ball. It had been his mission to get a game ball. He was devastated. My husband bought him a ball but it wasn't the same....it was clean. Not all covered with game dirt. A dear friend convinced her son to part with his game ball....(it was a prolific game ball day at the stadium) so Ben got his game ball and had it signed after the game. He was happy. I was proud of him and when the family approached us after the game to thank Ben for returning the injurious ball to it's rightful owner, I wanted to say, "Oh you have no idea how great that was that my son returned the ball! He isn't great with compassion or sympathy for others....so count your blessings!" Instead I just smiled and said "You are welcome!"