Name Calling

The other night we were at our neighborhood pool. There was a father there with three boys, ages roughly 2, 4 & 6. Towards the end of the evening Nicky and the 4 y.o. were on the tennis courts chasing each other around. Nicky was growling and the boy was laughing. The 6 y.o. then joined them and started calling Nicky "idiot" and the 4 y.o. joined in with "poopyhead." As I was about to intervene the father came and grabbed both boys, berated the boys in the tone of voice usually associated with times when your kids have totally mortified you. After a few minutes of lecturing the father bought the boys over and they apologized to both Nicky & me.

Nicky was oblivious and had thought it was all just good fun. I, on the other hand, was very upset, visibly, so that I couldn't do much more than thank the boys for apologizing. If Nicky was a typical kid, the incident probably would have passed without notice or perhaps escalated with Nicky hurling his own insults. But, he's not, and this is the first time, I've experienced unpleasantness on his behalf.

Could the incident have been handled any differently? The boys' father was so furious I'm not sure they understood why their father were so angry. Not having overheard what he said to the, did he explain that Nicky has a disability? Should I have said anything? And, how to prepare for the next unpleasantness of this sort?

What we found in the garden

First Day of School

O.K., so I didn't post this on the first day of school, and it's now been six weeks but, it's my blog.

First Nicky got on his bus:


Then we walked Nate to school:


And M.E. almost missed her bus, or so we thought (it comes around a second time at the specified time)

Vacation

Miles: 2236
Days away: 13
States: 5
Times Nate climbed Mt. Pisgah: 5
Kids: 3
Dogs: 1 (Daisy)
Dead batteries: 1
Strained backs: 1(mine)

Before school started we made our annual trek to Michigan. A few days in Ann Arbor at Grandma's house, a week on Beaver Island and a few more days at Grandma's. Beaver Island is one of my all time favorite places on earth. My father is buried there and we went on our honeymoon there. It's a bit quirky,once home to a colony founded by Mormon, "King" James Strang with a year round population of about 300 which swells to 10 times that in the summer, things definitely operate on island time. Because it is somewhat difficult to get to there is a lot of unspoiled beauty. My family started visiting when I was in college and it's now become the trip my kids look forward to every year.


A family of turkeys strolling accross the front yard


Nate preparing to climb Mt. Pisgah again


We left a treasure in the tree for our friends Katie, Laura, Scott, and Matthew


Enjoying the sun and sand


Even Grandma and Daisy enjoyed the beach