Parents Day Off

This morning, I awoke to the sound of whining; Turner's first day of Science Camp.  I listened, while covering my head with my pillow, to the back and forth of a futile conversation between a logical mother and a fearful son. After several minutes their circular "talkabout" swayed me to stumble from sweet slumber to begrudging wakefulness.

As Nicole's rock/quasi other kiddo, my parenting talents are easily applied to situations involving emotions. Let's face it...my inner child is really accessible.

As I clodded heavily across the upstairs hallway, I found Turner sitting in his bedroom, looking at a book and gently stroking his chest under his shirt (he always soothes himself in this manner).  His face looked pitiful.  I immediately dropped to the floor and engaged him peer to peer. "Wow!",I started.  "Today is SCIENCE Camp, right buddy?" He immediately started to whine.  I turned it up a notch and began to overwhelm him with a flurry of positive kid-type behavior and words designed to incite compliance, if not actual excitement.

His face began to morph from terror, to fear, to acceptance. Piggy-back style we bounced downstairs for a breakfast of Reese's Puffs and a hard boiled egg (we always chase sugar with protein).
30 minutes later we were unexpectedly greeted by a familiar face as we walked into the "Science of Summer." Without even a look back, my whiny son was off and ready to engage in squirmy, squishy, muddy hands-on science activities.

Let's not kid ourselves...time with our children is precious...time without our children is an absolute fantasy come true. Turner is the love of my life and loving drains my energy.  Contrary to popular belief, love is not a renewable resource...that is, unless I plug into something that feeds my battery...  enter Nicole, music, art, writing, and nature.

I hope Turner enjoys Science Camp today half as much as I enjoy Parents Day Off.