Yep, pinkeye has returned. I noticed JediBoy was coughing last night, but figured it was because he has so many piles of growing-dusty, too-small and too-big clothing lingering in his room from before I hurt my knee & back. Then as the day unfolded his eye was getting pink & more discharge. Since we had a smidgen of the drops left in the bottle, I started those right away and took him back to the clinic. No ear infections this time, but the doctor was puzzled that the conjunctivitis had returned. So - another round of eyedrops.
This might have been a major tragedy, since his big “Knights and Castles” birthday party with friends is TOMORROW. Fortunately, the friends who have seen my email warning so far have all said they’ll come anyway, and just take extra care. The only big thing we’re forgoing is the dragon cake we had planned to spend the afternoon creating. I knew it would be a disappointment for JediBoy if I made it without him, so we picked up a bakery sheet cake (not easy to do - I forgot this is high school graduation weekend in this area) and promised him we’ll make the dragon cake for ourselves later in the week, when he’s feeling better. (Oh, darn, a giant chocolate dragon we’ll have to eat by ourselves?)
He tickled me, though, by passing the waiting time at the clinic by counting things in Spanish. “There are quatro doors on the cabinets, and uno box of tissues.” Can you tell he’s been on another Dora & Diego kick? He’s not interested in listening to the learn Spanish cds I’ve been using, but he picks up a little from his cartoon buddies. (Did you know Dora is an unschooler? Diego even more so, I think.)
We talked some more about slugs, learning from a friend why they were out in force last night. The heavy rain saturated the ground too fast, putting the slugs and snails in danger of suffocating, so they had to come up to the air.
The mail held a birthday card and newspaper clippings from my dad in South Africa, including an article about Star Wars. Yesterday he got a package from PisecoSis that had a Beanie Bith and some Neopets that he decided were dragons. He’s been loving this extended birthday, so big thanks go out to both Pappy and PisecoSis.
We blew up an unending stream of inflatable swords and morning stars, and a few crayons for our pacifist friends. I have a hard time with JediBoy’s weaponry and interest in such things - it makes my stomach turn. I’m not sure why. I grew up in a household with guns - my dad likes target shooting, and when I was young he’d let us shoot the BB gun in the basement (er, at the target, of course). I didn’t have a problem with that, and PisecoDad and I spent time out at the shooting range in college, because he loves target shooting too.
I can understand an interest in the art, history, function of weapons. But when it turns personal - to attacking someone, shooting someone - that’s when my stomach turns too. I try to be the loving parent who directs him to more peaceful activities, but he really longs for the weekend, when he can spend time playing video games and war games with PisecoDad. Sometimes I wish I could more easily fall into his games of shooting and death - intellectually, I can see how it meets a need, especially for his personality type - and I can see how he lights up when he gets someone (RedLink, P., either of his Uncle Js) to come into that world with him. I just can’t. Oh, okay, I admit I am fond of the inflatable morning stars. They’re just goofy fun. We’ve had a good time swinging them around together. But when he starts to move from just a physical back-and-forth into a drawn out scenario that actually involves attacking - that’s when I shut down.
He knows it, too. He rarely approaches me for that kind of game. Today, at the clinic, he was getting very frustrated waiting, and he said - If I had a sword right now, I’d stick it through the door. Bam! And on the other side the sword would stick my doctor, and then Swoosh! I’d pull him through the door.
He looked up at me then and said But he’d still be alive, of course.
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