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Friday, May 26, 2006

 

Warning: shameless bragging ahead

Every mother (and father) knows that you love your child no matter how funny looking they might be, how dim they might seem, how uncoordinated they might be. And every honest mother (and father) will tell you that despite that, their heart grows a size or two when they realize that their child is, in fact, gorgeous and brilliant and at least coordinated enough to not be a risk to innocent bystanders.

Today, I got a survey in the mail from KOA, the campground kampground where we stayed earlier this month. Tristan saw the envelope on the counter and brought it to me, saying "Hey, mummy, look, it's mail from the campground!" In the two days we were there, he managed to recognize and internalize their logo, and recall it two weeks later. He'd never seen the logo before or since, and certainly nobody pointed it out to him. That's got to be some sort of four-year-old mensa equivalency, right?

The boys both passed their swimming levels tonight, too. I was (and continue to be) proud of Tristan (and Simon, but passing 'parents and tots' is a little bit like getting your name in the phone book - you pass that one for showing up). My heart melted completely when Tristan looked at me with shining eyes after we got home and he said, "Mummy, I'm so proud of myself." Smart, gorgeous AND a healthy self-esteem... we must be doing something right.

Being with the boys has been blissful lately. They're still a handful, and their cleverness comes back to bite me in the ass rather regularly, but times are good. They play together more often than not now, and seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company.

As I was making dinner, Simon asked if he could watch a particular DVD and since my hands were full, I asked Tristan to put it in the DVD player and turn on the TV. Not only did he do it, but he explained step-by-step what he was doing to Simon: "And see, you push this button and the drawer opens, and you put the DVD here..." I looked at Beloved and said, "Please tell me they'll always be this nice to each other." Beloved was kind enough not to burst my bubble. He said nothing.

Did I tell you what Tristan said when he gave me my mother's day card this year? "Happy Sweet Mother's Day, Mummy!" If that doesn't make up for a year of shenanigans, I don't know what would.