Pokemon Love

We have only had two days of summer, and I am already exhausted. The boys are fun, but sooooo hard to control when they are all together, but when I get one-on-one time with them, our experiences are infinitely richer.

Yesterday, the baby took a long nap and the two older boys were out with friends. It was just me and Cam. We spent time playing a basketball game on the Play Station 3. Not only am I FINALLY learning which buttons to push to shoot the ball and pass the ball, but I'm learning NOT to score too many points. Cam is a great coach and happy that his instructions are leading to improvement, but I definitely don't ever want to beat him in a game. That may lead to the next half-hour of our time together being devoted to calming the temper tantrum. I will forever be learning how to prevent and cure a tantrum.

All kids express frustration and anger differently. This little one needs to express himself physically. For now, we will try using a blow up thing for a punching bag. It was only seconds of punching when a smile crept along his face and the tantrum turned into a game.

Anywho, I wanted to focus this blog entry on the good times. Did anyone see the movie Monster's Inc.? To sum it up, the mosters use children's screams of fear to power their city. By the end of the film, they have learned that a child's laugh yields infinitely more power than a scream. So, instead of sneaking into children's rooms at night to scare them, they barge in with their own comedy routines in order to make them laugh. The tantrums are tough, but the good times are exhilarating.

Later that afternoon, Cam was having some alone time in his room with his Pokemon cards. I asked if I could come in and hang out, and he said I could after 5 minutes alone. When I returned, he laid out all his coolest cards. We discussed which ones were his favorite, which ones were more powerful, etc. (We did this for longer than I thought possible).

Then he held up two cards and asked me which one I thought was cuter. I thought Turtwig was cuter cause he has a little sprout coming out of his head. Cam thought Team Magna's Aron was cuter. I said Aron looked like my boyfriend's dog Dante. After a few more minutes discussing the cards, Cam gave me both cards to keep. He wanted me to have Aron so that I may be reminded of Dante when he passes. It was such a sweet and tender moment. My eyes welled. Any stress he caused me earlier was washed away in that moment.

Turtwig

Aron