Monday, June 15, 2009

Long live the king

As I waited for Diver to return from his first day as a Leader-in-Training (L.I.T.) at YMCA Day Camp, I calmly prepared for the worst scenario: Snarling teen gets off bus, stomps to car, muttering, "I'm never going back"   

That had been Diver's standard response to new experiences.  
I resolved to be different; to prepare, remain calm and unflustered.

The bus pulled up.  Diver climbed off, handed me his heavy backpack, and announced, "Dairy Queen or Burger King." 

"Hungry?"  I asked.   
"No. I got hit in the face. " 

As the evening went on, details of the day filtered out.  Noticeably absent was the "I'm never going back" declaration.  Right before bed, Diver announced, "I have emotions."

I sat with him and we talked through his day, processing the experience and identifying the feelings.  The "hit on the face" was someone trip during a game of tag.  And it was fine.  He was fine.  And insists I come to Family Night Thursday.  

2 comments:

  1. Wow - his "I have emotions" statement is really great. Glad to hear that he's putting it out there and wanting to talk about it - and is able to talk about it. Fantastic.

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  2. Big improvement! Sounds like our Diver is growing up.

    Oh crap, now I'm all weepy. How in the heck have I become so attached to a boy I've never met? Guess it's the way you bring him to live here on the blog.

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