T. Bone

Things are slowly winding down at school for T. Bone and quickly winding up in the evenings and on weekends mostly on the baseball field. T. Bone has had seven games in as many days. Last night he had a perfect game. The Sox were up then down then up then down coming back to win the game. It was very exciting, cheap entertainment. So good that I am no longer complaining about serving dinner (if you can even call it that) at 8:00 in the evening almost every night. This weekend the team faces two tough opponents so we'll be there to cheer on our team. Once again our weekend schedule revolves around baseball, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

The last days of the school year are all about celebrating the past and preparing for the future. Yesterday we visited school for a 4th Grade Farewell. It was nice and low-key. The kiddos escorted parents around the school. It was a parade of projects. The artifacts displayed were evidence of all of the learning these almost 5th graders have under their belts these past months. I especially enjoyed the life-sized, symbol-laden mummies, and the state product projects. T. Bone was most excited that I came with a platter of fresh baked cookies and that we took him home early. I am very much going to miss Mrs. J and I pray she is still teaching when Miss Bit makes her way to 4th grade. It was a bittersweet adieu, but really aren't they all?

Today is special interest day. Of the 30 odd options available, my boy signed up for tennis just to see if the two state-ranked kids in his class are as good as they claim to be. Clearly, he takes issue with anyone else’s hard honed talent. He also chose steak, which involves working with a local bistro chef to expertly prepare steak frites...a favorite of mine when I go to this establishment. I didn’t know he even cared much for steak…hmmm? Maybe he’s become iron deficient thanks to our recent neglect of some of the better for you components of the food pyramid. We've been derelict in the 5 or more categories too. Shhhh.

Then next week he’ll spend one day at the middle school meeting his buddy and learning the lay of the land. He's not fazed by lockers or bell schedules. No, the big buzz with regard to that visit is being able to choose between pizza and subs for lunch. My boy who is cold lunch every day has no intention of ever packing a lunch again. He’s in for a rude awakening I'm afraid, but on this one day I don't care if he eats a slice of pepperoni washed down with an Italian combo. He's on a serious streak. Winning.

Another day will be devoted to 4th Grade celebration . The kids get to strap on skates at an area rink and roller the day away. Rumor has it that there’ll be a smorgasbord of treats for snacking too. The last day of school is the infamous Mega Party. This is an event all the kids look forward to all year long. The playground is morphed into an inflatable paradise and the kids get to bounce and box and slide and race through obstacle courses. Oh, and there's also the intramural baseball championship.

Summer vacation will then be kicked off in normal fashion by attending Camp Grandpa. This is T. Bone’s favorite camp of the summer and I suspect that with the new addition of a lab puppy the excitement will only be magnified. Grandpa may be anticipating help with tiring out the puppy too. I think he's hedging his bets on T. Bone delivering dog tired.

The rest of the summer will be a hodgepodge of camps, vacations, downtime and baseball. T. Bone's stint on the tournament team will pretty much keep him busy until football practice starts in August. I have a summer spreadsheet detailing who needs to be where when. I also have an appreciation for people with more children and/or full-time jobs because summer is also about savoring and slowing down, and I'm just not sure it's possible in either scenario. We schedule in lazy days in permanent ink here at Casa Wags.