Nanny Shyanna is back! I had front loaded the boys’ summer schedule with camps, and then I panicked because what nanny would want to miss the first month of work? I was THRILLED to find out that she had a class the first month and so our schedules matched perfectly! Not only is she great with the boys, she is also great with the dogs, and she loves crafting and doesn’t hesitate to help me with ridiculous projects (other duties as assigned!).
Monday she arrived and Xander was feeling very put out. I mean, he’s 7, obviously too old for a nanny! Gussie sometimes matches Xander’s energy, and so he was feeling angsty too. I’m not proud of myself, but I bribed them. I said if they were well behaved and helpful and had good attitudes all week, they could pick a prize on Friday. I’m not winning any parenting awards, but oh my goodness did they turn it around quickly.
They played games all morning and at one point I heard Gussie say, “I told Daddy you were annoying, you’re not!” Kind of a compliment…. I guess. But progress from where the morning started.
In the afternoon, Shyanna took them to Madison’s Place, which is a HUGE park and splash pad. Xander came back and reported, “a splash pad is just cement”… yeah, with like, a lot of fun water features, sometimes he is 7 going on 17. But overall, day 1 with the nanny was smooth.
Tuesday afternoon was “water and registration day” for the boys’ new school. I filled out paperwork while they played with bubbles, sponges, kiddie pools and a bunch of fun water stuff set up. Xander wasn’t thrilled, but Gussie made “16 new friends”.
Wednesday morning, the boys had golf lessons and then it was a full day of playing with Sam and Abby. Wednesday is also the day of the fistfight… that story is to be continued below. And for the record, my boys scuffle a lot- it’s not even real fighting. They hit or push or “fight” but it’s pretty minimal. They are relatively similar in size and 100% equal in switching off who instigates it. And they usually get over it within 5 minutes, so I try not to intervene too much. This was a first…. see below for the full report.
Thursday is going to be Grandma Debbie’s day for the rest of the summer, and so they were busy with swimming, pickle balling, playing outside. In the evening, Nate took the boys to soccer- Xander was back to wanting to play and they had a great time, despite losing 20-5. My mom and I went to the History Theater, which I had never heard of, to see a play called Glensheen (about the Glensheen mansion and murders). I like theater and would pretty much see anything, but I wasn’t expecting too much from such a small theater. Surprise, it was FANTASTIC. The music was great, the actors were amazing, it was funny, it was interesting. 10/10. So fun.
On Friday, Nanny Shyanna was back. Our cleaning lady came in the afternoon, so they all had to get out of the house, so they went to Matthew’s Park wading pool and playground. I had a meeting to discuss the next steps of the alumni magazine with the design team. Yes, we’re on to phase 2 (or phase 27, depending on how you are counting). I am DONE writing. It took 4 months but the magazine is WRITTEN. Lord have mercy, when I said, “hey, I think I should be the writer” that was ambitious. But I did it and I’m super happy with it and I am so excited to see the designer turn everything into a beautifully laid out magazine.
On Saturday, I spent the morning at Camp St. Croix for an alumni event. It was beautiful weather, a great turn out, I got to talk to alumni from the 1950s-2020s. Success. The boys went to Grandma’s and played pickle ball, went swimming and were going to spend the night, but when I got home at 2, my mom called to say that Gussie had been crying on and off all day. That is pretty out of character for him, so we both suspected something was going on. I went to pick him up and we agreed that everyone sometimes has a bad day and it’s no big deal. When that happens, sometimes you just need to snuggle with your mom on the couch for a while. He perked up as soon as we agreed on that plan and he was in good spirits as soon as we got home.
Last time they were going to spend the night, the reverse happened, and Xander came home. I actually think it is nice for them each to have one on one time with grandma, and have one on one time with mom and dad, so it worked out. We ordered dinner with our neighbors and ate outside in their backyard. It was a nice night.
Ok, back to Wednesday, buckle up, this is a story…
Wednesday mid morning, I could hear sobbing coming from Xander’s room. When I finally got him to calm down, he let me know that several days ago, he traded a pokemon card to Sam and now he regrets it and he’s sad because Grandma gave him that card for his birthday. Ok.
Sam, Abby, Xander and Augustus all have books of pokemon cards and they love trading. So we walked down to Sam and Abby’s house, and Kelly, Shyanna and I tried to negotiate a terrorist-level situation between 7 year olds. We suggested not trading anymore, which none of them liked, but also, we got no where in the discussion and Xander was getting more and more upset, so we agreed to all think on it until 4pm.
Shyanna and Kelly took the kids to the library and the park and it was pleasant and they were thinking it had all blown over, until Kelly overheard them say something about pokemon and Xander said, “I’m going to have to sleep on that” so, no, they hadn’t moved on.
We missed the 4pm meet up, but after dinner, we went back to their house to revisit the problem. Sam and Abby were on the trampoline and Augustus joined in right away. Xander stood outside the trampoline and attempted to have a reasonable conversation about his feelings while the other 3 bounced. I eventually pulled him away and said, “I think the timing isn’t great, let’s wait until there’s a better time. Can you just play right now?” And so he got into the trampoline to join in the fun.
Kelly and I were busy patting ourselves on the backs for being such good moms who refuse to helicopter and just solve this for them- we are facilitating conversation and allowing them to problem solve. We are building strong, resourceful kids. We were smiling at each other. We were beaming with pride. And then I watched Xander reach back and do a full on “soap opera level” slap across Sam’s face and he reacts instantly with a good whack. Kelly and I leapt into the air rushing to the trampoline both yelling, “whoa whoa”. The boys were each sitting in their respective corners of the trampoline. Abby had fully embraced Sam as if he is a dying soldier on a battlefield. She was gently stroking his head. Gussie had managed to wrap his legs around Xander in a wrestling move and was lovingly jabbing him in the ribs (as soothing as I think he could be).
And then Sam boldly stated, “Abby is the ONLY funny person here” and Xander aggressively replied, “Gussie is the ONLY funny person here” (no idea what that meant) and then both boys burst into tears.
I got Xander out of the trampoline and he and I walked home to cool down. Xander was furious. “Sam is the worst person I know! I will NEVER play with him again!”
20 minutes later, we’d cooled down and were ready to go back over, as long as pokemon was NOT mentioned. When we got back to their house, Sam, Abby and Gussie have gotten a tee shirt stuck on the string of porch lights and were jumping off a table to attempt to retrieve it. Xander joined in immediately (is there a better activity?!) They got the shirt down and were joyously celebrating.
We told them they couldn’t do that anymore because they were going to rip down the lights, so they moved to the front yard to try to throw their shoes and shirts into the tree, celebrating when they get each one stuck. All 4 kids were shirtless and running around like the ferrell children they are- all of them smiling and happy.
End scene.
Thursday the boys were at Grandma Debbie’s and on Friday, Sam and Abby went out of town for the weekend, so having a break for a few days was probably the best thing for all of them.
Sunday has been a busy day for all of us. Grandma Debbie and Xander were busy with pickle ball and shopping. Nate and Gussie hung out all morning. I went with Danny to do another open water swim and 7 mile bike ride. Afterwards, I went to the CYC office to be in charge of camp check in. I have been enjoying a camp free life, but you know I can’t stay away. When they didn’t have someone available for check in, the ED called me to ask if I would step in. And so I was busy running rosters and printing reports and getting all the paperwork ready. There were several campers and parents I recognized and the routine was the same as always. It was fun to step in for a little while and also nice to say, “ok, bye, back to my family and a lazy Sunday!”
After check in, I went to meet Nate and Gussie at Grandma Debbie’s house. Grandma and Xander had challenged us all to a pickleball game and we were ready! After that, the boys headed home to play with Sam and Abby, I went grocery shopping, and we had a relaxing Sunday afternoon/evening of fun.
Onto another week of summer!