Matt has an imaginary friend. This friend goes by two names: Matt and Matty. Matt makes sure that we include his imaginary friend in the important things in life like meals, bath, kissing time, and bedtime reading.
Imaginary Matty is younger than Matt, so Matt has to help him remember to brush his teeth, wash his hands -- with soap, get dressed. Matt is a really big helper for Imaginary Matty.
Matt is also helping Imaginary Matty with speech. He holds up a cup, models the word for Imaginary Matty, listens to Imaginary Matty say the word and then praises Imaginary Matty on his attempt.
Imaginary Matty is also afraid of a number of things: loud noises, the dark, and some of Matt's television shows and movies. Matt makes sure that we all comfort Imaginary Matty when he is frightened.
Matt does have to report on Imaginary Matty's repeated bad behavior. Imaginary Matty has hit Matt, ran away when told to come in, splashed water out of the tube, and kicked Matt. I have had to reprimand Imaginary Matty for his bad behavior and put him in time out. Matt does tell me that Imaginary Matty is sorry and that he promises not to do the bad behavior anymore.
Imaginary Matt seems to be older than Imaginary Matty, so Imaginary Matt gets to go on more adventures than Imaginary Matty. Big stuff: like Legoland and school. Imaginary Matt is not frightened by Matt's television shows and movies.
Like Imaginary Matty, Imaginary Matt has been known to misbehave. He has refused to do his homework. He has been defiant. He has yelled at and thrown things at Matt. Like Imaginary Matty, I have had to put Imaginary Matt in time out and explained to him why he is in trouble. And sometimes this misbehavior is bad enough so that he is in BIG trouble and he can't watch television nor play Wii nor computer games.
Imaginary Matt is always sorry for him misbehavior and always promises to not do any of it again.
I look forward each day to the adventure that Matt has had with Imaginary Matty and Imaginary Matt. Who knows what they did today?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Mr. Fix It
At 5:45 this morning my son came into my room and announced that he was wet, cold and wanted to cuddle.
Attempting to hold on to the wisps of sleep that still entangled me, I told him to strip, go to the bathroom and then come and cuddle.
As he started to walk out of the bathroom, I could hear the toilet still running. Knowing that the sound would keep me from sleep, I asked him to jiggle the handle.
"Okay, Mommy! I fix," he said as he went back into the bathroom. I could feel the pull of sleep dragging me to slumber land.
Upon hearing the top lifted from the toilet tank, I bound from bed. I dashed into the bathroom to seeing my son holding a piece of the toilet in his hand and water spraying against the wall. He held his empty hand out towards me, to stop me from coming closer.
"No, Mommy. I help. I fix."
I gently removed the piece from his hand and place it on the counter and moved him away from the toilet.
As I turned the water off, I told him, "I know you want to help. But I think we'll get our plumber. Okay?"
He sighed and nodded.
As I cuddled my sleeping child (thankfully the adventure didn't keep him from sleeping a bit longer before school), I thought that I had best enlist the help of my handy friends and family to teach him how to fix things since he is determined to help.
I am sure we will encounter a great number of other misadventures on his path to becoming a true Mr. Fix It!
Attempting to hold on to the wisps of sleep that still entangled me, I told him to strip, go to the bathroom and then come and cuddle.
As he started to walk out of the bathroom, I could hear the toilet still running. Knowing that the sound would keep me from sleep, I asked him to jiggle the handle.
"Okay, Mommy! I fix," he said as he went back into the bathroom. I could feel the pull of sleep dragging me to slumber land.
Upon hearing the top lifted from the toilet tank, I bound from bed. I dashed into the bathroom to seeing my son holding a piece of the toilet in his hand and water spraying against the wall. He held his empty hand out towards me, to stop me from coming closer.
"No, Mommy. I help. I fix."
I gently removed the piece from his hand and place it on the counter and moved him away from the toilet.
As I turned the water off, I told him, "I know you want to help. But I think we'll get our plumber. Okay?"
He sighed and nodded.
As I cuddled my sleeping child (thankfully the adventure didn't keep him from sleeping a bit longer before school), I thought that I had best enlist the help of my handy friends and family to teach him how to fix things since he is determined to help.
I am sure we will encounter a great number of other misadventures on his path to becoming a true Mr. Fix It!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Bravery in Action
I had the treat these past two days of watching bravery in action.
For a number of years Matt has been really frightened of the dark. He is fearful of going into any room that is dimly lit. He has bolted from movie theaters, aquariums, dark streets, and so on.
For a Christmas treat, my mother took Matt and I to Sea World in San Diego for a few days. We drove down on Sunday, went to Sea World Monday and Tuesday, and drove back Tuesday after a day at Sea World.
On Monday, in addition to a number of fun activities and sea life interactions, Matt *peeked* into one of the aquariums. He stood in the doorway for a while and looked at the fish in the tanks near the door. After a while, he stood in front of the tank near the door. He was so proud of this feat! He ventured to the few tanks right by the entrance and then dashed out. But he went into a very dimly lit building and explored a bit. What a huge victory for him!
On our walk through the park, we saw a fresh water aquarium. Matt stood at the entrance way and looked in. He backed away and ran. Standing in one dark room was more than enough for that day!
Tuesday, after watching the Shamu show (during which Matt was fearful - he was not at all convinced that he would not get wet - which for some reason he was most concerned about), he asked to see the fish. We went to the sea/salt water aquarium again. He started at the tank near the entrance way. He circled the tanks near the entrance way, returning repeatedly to the tank at the front. He then started working his way down the line of tanks, deeper and deeper into the dark (although after being in the aquarium for this long period of time - I am sure that his eyes had completely adjusted to the dim lighting. Still, he knew he was in a dark building. He was facing his fear directly.).
He slowly worked his way down the whole building. He viewed most of the tanks (thankfully most people were understanding of a young boy pushing his way to the front of each exhibit. It was a really crowded day and each exhibit was filled with people.). When he exited the building, he was so proud of himself. He knew exactly what he had accomplished.
As we circled around the park, we approached the next aquarium - the fresh water aquarium. Once again, he stood at the entrance way and peeked in. He kept dashing away and returning. Then he stepped inside. He crossed the first room to look at the turtles. He then lead the exploration, pulling us from one exhibit to the next, exclaiming at what he had found and then on to the next to see what it held.
He calmly walked out of the fresh water aquarium wearing a big grin. He was ready to tackle another big challenge . He said that he wanted to see the sharks also. The shark exhibit is one in which you start in daylight, go down below into the exhibit, end up in a tube with shark around you and then walk back out into the daylight.
There was a huge crowd and a huge line at the shark exhibit. We waited in line with Matt. As we got to the entrance of the exhibit, Matt began to panic. We had him stand next to a Sea World employee who was directing the flow of people into the shark exhibit. Matt could not see the inside of the exhibit because of the crush of people. He had so wanted to peek into the shark exhibit as he had at the aquariums. But the crowd of people made that impossible.
We all decided that we would try the shark exhibit on another, less busy day.
As we left Sea World, I told Matt how proud I was of him. He told me that he *peeked* at the fish. I told him that he had looked at all of the fish and that he was very brave.
Tonight, as he got ready for bed, I repeated once again just how proud I was of how brave he had been.
It is not everyday that you get to see bravery in action.
For a number of years Matt has been really frightened of the dark. He is fearful of going into any room that is dimly lit. He has bolted from movie theaters, aquariums, dark streets, and so on.
For a Christmas treat, my mother took Matt and I to Sea World in San Diego for a few days. We drove down on Sunday, went to Sea World Monday and Tuesday, and drove back Tuesday after a day at Sea World.
On Monday, in addition to a number of fun activities and sea life interactions, Matt *peeked* into one of the aquariums. He stood in the doorway for a while and looked at the fish in the tanks near the door. After a while, he stood in front of the tank near the door. He was so proud of this feat! He ventured to the few tanks right by the entrance and then dashed out. But he went into a very dimly lit building and explored a bit. What a huge victory for him!
On our walk through the park, we saw a fresh water aquarium. Matt stood at the entrance way and looked in. He backed away and ran. Standing in one dark room was more than enough for that day!
Tuesday, after watching the Shamu show (during which Matt was fearful - he was not at all convinced that he would not get wet - which for some reason he was most concerned about), he asked to see the fish. We went to the sea/salt water aquarium again. He started at the tank near the entrance way. He circled the tanks near the entrance way, returning repeatedly to the tank at the front. He then started working his way down the line of tanks, deeper and deeper into the dark (although after being in the aquarium for this long period of time - I am sure that his eyes had completely adjusted to the dim lighting. Still, he knew he was in a dark building. He was facing his fear directly.).
He slowly worked his way down the whole building. He viewed most of the tanks (thankfully most people were understanding of a young boy pushing his way to the front of each exhibit. It was a really crowded day and each exhibit was filled with people.). When he exited the building, he was so proud of himself. He knew exactly what he had accomplished.
As we circled around the park, we approached the next aquarium - the fresh water aquarium. Once again, he stood at the entrance way and peeked in. He kept dashing away and returning. Then he stepped inside. He crossed the first room to look at the turtles. He then lead the exploration, pulling us from one exhibit to the next, exclaiming at what he had found and then on to the next to see what it held.
He calmly walked out of the fresh water aquarium wearing a big grin. He was ready to tackle another big challenge . He said that he wanted to see the sharks also. The shark exhibit is one in which you start in daylight, go down below into the exhibit, end up in a tube with shark around you and then walk back out into the daylight.
There was a huge crowd and a huge line at the shark exhibit. We waited in line with Matt. As we got to the entrance of the exhibit, Matt began to panic. We had him stand next to a Sea World employee who was directing the flow of people into the shark exhibit. Matt could not see the inside of the exhibit because of the crush of people. He had so wanted to peek into the shark exhibit as he had at the aquariums. But the crowd of people made that impossible.
We all decided that we would try the shark exhibit on another, less busy day.
As we left Sea World, I told Matt how proud I was of him. He told me that he *peeked* at the fish. I told him that he had looked at all of the fish and that he was very brave.
Tonight, as he got ready for bed, I repeated once again just how proud I was of how brave he had been.
It is not everyday that you get to see bravery in action.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas Spirit
Last year, Matt's school strongly prompted the idea of walking to school as an activity to help both the health of the world and all of the walkers' personal health. Matt was determined that he would walk to school also. The problem is that Matt does not attend his neighbor school - i.e., the school within walking distance. His school is a ten minute drive from our home. It would take us a good hour walking at Matt's pace.
So I came up with a compromise. We now park a few blocks from school and walk from that point - everyday - rain or shine. Usually this first person that Matt greets every school day is Mr. Doug, the crossing guard. We exchange morning pleasantries and continue on to school.
I purchased gifts for Matt's teachers, aides, and therapists. The Wednesday of the last week before Winter break, I carried the bag of gifts to the car. Matt was curious as to what I was carrying in the bag. I told Matt about the gifts we were giving to everyone at school who helps him. He happily told the aide at school that the gifts were for her and went to his desk to start his day.
The next day as I park the car, Matt looked out the window and exclaims, "Mr. Doug!" I agreed that I could see Mr. Doug. Matt said, "No! Where Mr. Doug gift?" Right. Mr. Doug is someone who helps Matt at school. Quickly thinking, I told Matt that I forgot it at the house, but we would bring it to Mr. Doug tomorrow. Matt hopped out of the car and yelled to Mr. Doug that I forgot his gift but we would bring it tomorrow.
That night, I packaged up a gift for Mr. Doug. Matt grabbed the package and leaped from the car the moment I parked. "Mr. Doug," he screamed, waving the package aloft. "Your gift." Mr. Doug told Matt how grateful he was for his gift and thanked him each time Matt repeats "Your gift" as we cross the street together.
Matt beamed up at me as we continued our walk to school. "Mr. Doug happy." I agreed that Mr. Doug was happy. "Matt gift Mr. Doug happy." I agree that his gift made Mr. Doug happy. Matt ponders this thought for a moment. "Bennett need gift. Gabby need gift. Vanessa need gift." (his aides from last year)
I give him a big hug. I ask him if he wants to make everyone happy. "Yep. Need Matt gift."
This year I was able to watch as Matt discovered the pleasure of giving someone a gift. While he still eagerly awaits his gifts from Santa (and the rest of us), he also understands the joy the giver receives when giving someone a gift.
So I came up with a compromise. We now park a few blocks from school and walk from that point - everyday - rain or shine. Usually this first person that Matt greets every school day is Mr. Doug, the crossing guard. We exchange morning pleasantries and continue on to school.
I purchased gifts for Matt's teachers, aides, and therapists. The Wednesday of the last week before Winter break, I carried the bag of gifts to the car. Matt was curious as to what I was carrying in the bag. I told Matt about the gifts we were giving to everyone at school who helps him. He happily told the aide at school that the gifts were for her and went to his desk to start his day.
The next day as I park the car, Matt looked out the window and exclaims, "Mr. Doug!" I agreed that I could see Mr. Doug. Matt said, "No! Where Mr. Doug gift?" Right. Mr. Doug is someone who helps Matt at school. Quickly thinking, I told Matt that I forgot it at the house, but we would bring it to Mr. Doug tomorrow. Matt hopped out of the car and yelled to Mr. Doug that I forgot his gift but we would bring it tomorrow.
That night, I packaged up a gift for Mr. Doug. Matt grabbed the package and leaped from the car the moment I parked. "Mr. Doug," he screamed, waving the package aloft. "Your gift." Mr. Doug told Matt how grateful he was for his gift and thanked him each time Matt repeats "Your gift" as we cross the street together.
Matt beamed up at me as we continued our walk to school. "Mr. Doug happy." I agreed that Mr. Doug was happy. "Matt gift Mr. Doug happy." I agree that his gift made Mr. Doug happy. Matt ponders this thought for a moment. "Bennett need gift. Gabby need gift. Vanessa need gift." (his aides from last year)
I give him a big hug. I ask him if he wants to make everyone happy. "Yep. Need Matt gift."
This year I was able to watch as Matt discovered the pleasure of giving someone a gift. While he still eagerly awaits his gifts from Santa (and the rest of us), he also understands the joy the giver receives when giving someone a gift.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
It's Christmas Time!
Matt has been walking around saying "It's Christmas time!" He has told me what he wants Santa to bring him (Hot Wheel Cars). He points out every Santa he sees (cuts out in windows, in ads, the Santa decorations we have). He is singing Christmas songs. He knows that Christmas is coming in a few weeks. He is beyond exciting about Christmas and Santa.
This is the first year he has reached this level of understanding of Christmas.
A few years ago, he thought the UPS driver was this Santa Claus guy we were telling him about because the UPS driver brought the boxes of gifts from our far flung family. Not a bad guess. At that point, Matt also became entranced with the decorated Christmas tree and our various Christmas figures: Victorian Carolers and Santa in his workshop. He gave himself the job of turning on the tree and figures. He named our boy caroler Steve. We never did figure out why or who he was naming the caroler after, but the caroler remains Steve to this day. (Sadly, the female caroler tumbled out of the attic last year and broke, so Steve is singing on his own now.)
Last year, we didn't put the gifts under the tree until after Matt went to bed on Christmas Eve. We are blessed with generous family and friends. We had a lot of packages under the tree. When he ran out of his room Christmas morning, he luckily dashed acrossed the kitchen to wake us up. I was so happy to be able to witness his awed expression when he ran into the living room and saw the tree. "Santa came," he whispered.
This year, he is anticipating Santa's arrival. He is talking about Santa coming. He is singing about Santa coming. He is seeing Santa everywhere.
It's Christmas time. And we know who is going to be one excited boy on Christmas morning!
This is the first year he has reached this level of understanding of Christmas.
A few years ago, he thought the UPS driver was this Santa Claus guy we were telling him about because the UPS driver brought the boxes of gifts from our far flung family. Not a bad guess. At that point, Matt also became entranced with the decorated Christmas tree and our various Christmas figures: Victorian Carolers and Santa in his workshop. He gave himself the job of turning on the tree and figures. He named our boy caroler Steve. We never did figure out why or who he was naming the caroler after, but the caroler remains Steve to this day. (Sadly, the female caroler tumbled out of the attic last year and broke, so Steve is singing on his own now.)
Last year, we didn't put the gifts under the tree until after Matt went to bed on Christmas Eve. We are blessed with generous family and friends. We had a lot of packages under the tree. When he ran out of his room Christmas morning, he luckily dashed acrossed the kitchen to wake us up. I was so happy to be able to witness his awed expression when he ran into the living room and saw the tree. "Santa came," he whispered.
This year, he is anticipating Santa's arrival. He is talking about Santa coming. He is singing about Santa coming. He is seeing Santa everywhere.
It's Christmas time. And we know who is going to be one excited boy on Christmas morning!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Triennial IEP
Due to his significant development delays and disabilities, Matt is educated under an I.E.P. - an Individualized Education Program. Every three years (at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 years old - not sure if they will have one when he is 18 - I'll worry about that closer thereto!) he has a triennial review. From what I understand, the purpose of the review is to verify if he still needs to be educated under an IEP.
As there was no question that he would still qualify for an education under an IEP, I requested that we use the opportunity to do an in-depth assessment in all areas so we can establish what he truly does know, what he truly can do and then make a plan based on that. The reason for my request was that there are still gaps in his foundation skills. For example, it did not make sense to me to focus on teaching adding and subtracting when Matt does not comprehend numbers - that two items are always two items - not as many or as high as he can count. Kelly, his OT last year, was also concerned that he was missing some of his foundation pre-writing skills. She was not sure how he could write as well as he could - given the gaps in his fine-motor skills.
We received most of the assessments before our Triennial IEP meeting. I really appreciated everyone doing that so that I could read and assimilate everything before the meeting. I have given up hoping that assessments will not upset me. Other than the doctor telling me that she was worried about Matt's delay when he was 6 months old, rarely am I surprised by anything I read in an assessment. The fact that I already know the extent of Matt's delay doesn't change the emotion kick in the teeth I feel each time I see it in black and white.
I also realized a while ago that the assessments view Matt differently than I do. I look at where he is at and focus on what we need to do next to help him progress. The assessments start at where he should be at his age and focus on the gap. I look on his current abilities and how to help him grow and development. The assessments look at his disabilities and how far behind he is. Once I realized that it was just a different perspective, that there was no factual difference, I started to recover faster. I'm still flattened but now it is only for hours instead of days.
There were some bright spots in the assessments. Matt has acquired 31 months of vocabulary since his last assessment three years ago. As speech is his most challenging areas, that was so exiting to hear. He has done so well with his gross motor development that he is being transitioned to Adaptive PE and his PT will consult with the Adaptive PE instructor.
As he is very driven to both communicate and move (walk, run, play sports, etc.), it is not surprising that those were the two areas in which he made the most progress. Unfortunately he does not have the same internal motivation to use his hands for writing or dressing, so he did not make as much progress with his fine-motor skills, but he still did improve.
Not surprisingly with the difficulties these past two years, academics were an area in which Matt was really delayed. Thankfully with his current teacher he is already making gains in academics. He is starting to read and learn his sight words. He has completely adjusted to her class. Although he has displayed some testing behavior, because she has handled the situation so well, there has not been any of the behavior problems he exhibited last year. She has seven academic goals for this year (he only had two listed last year). She also believes that Matt is going to do great in her class. If it continues as it has started, it'll be a great year.
For fine-motor, they are focusing on writing his full name and for visual motor skills (an area of weakness uncovered during the assessment progress), they are focusing on coloring and cutting shapes. (And with the OT at the clinic - Matt is working on buttons, snaps, clasps, etc. so that he'll be able to dress himself. At the moment, not being able to work buttons or snaps etc. really limits the pants he can wear to just elastic banded exercise pants. Slowly but surely he'll achieve this also!)
All in all, I think Matt is going to have a great year. Knowing that we are basing our plan for his year on what his current abilities are gives me hope that he will make great strides this year.
As there was no question that he would still qualify for an education under an IEP, I requested that we use the opportunity to do an in-depth assessment in all areas so we can establish what he truly does know, what he truly can do and then make a plan based on that. The reason for my request was that there are still gaps in his foundation skills. For example, it did not make sense to me to focus on teaching adding and subtracting when Matt does not comprehend numbers - that two items are always two items - not as many or as high as he can count. Kelly, his OT last year, was also concerned that he was missing some of his foundation pre-writing skills. She was not sure how he could write as well as he could - given the gaps in his fine-motor skills.
We received most of the assessments before our Triennial IEP meeting. I really appreciated everyone doing that so that I could read and assimilate everything before the meeting. I have given up hoping that assessments will not upset me. Other than the doctor telling me that she was worried about Matt's delay when he was 6 months old, rarely am I surprised by anything I read in an assessment. The fact that I already know the extent of Matt's delay doesn't change the emotion kick in the teeth I feel each time I see it in black and white.
I also realized a while ago that the assessments view Matt differently than I do. I look at where he is at and focus on what we need to do next to help him progress. The assessments start at where he should be at his age and focus on the gap. I look on his current abilities and how to help him grow and development. The assessments look at his disabilities and how far behind he is. Once I realized that it was just a different perspective, that there was no factual difference, I started to recover faster. I'm still flattened but now it is only for hours instead of days.
There were some bright spots in the assessments. Matt has acquired 31 months of vocabulary since his last assessment three years ago. As speech is his most challenging areas, that was so exiting to hear. He has done so well with his gross motor development that he is being transitioned to Adaptive PE and his PT will consult with the Adaptive PE instructor.
As he is very driven to both communicate and move (walk, run, play sports, etc.), it is not surprising that those were the two areas in which he made the most progress. Unfortunately he does not have the same internal motivation to use his hands for writing or dressing, so he did not make as much progress with his fine-motor skills, but he still did improve.
Not surprisingly with the difficulties these past two years, academics were an area in which Matt was really delayed. Thankfully with his current teacher he is already making gains in academics. He is starting to read and learn his sight words. He has completely adjusted to her class. Although he has displayed some testing behavior, because she has handled the situation so well, there has not been any of the behavior problems he exhibited last year. She has seven academic goals for this year (he only had two listed last year). She also believes that Matt is going to do great in her class. If it continues as it has started, it'll be a great year.
For fine-motor, they are focusing on writing his full name and for visual motor skills (an area of weakness uncovered during the assessment progress), they are focusing on coloring and cutting shapes. (And with the OT at the clinic - Matt is working on buttons, snaps, clasps, etc. so that he'll be able to dress himself. At the moment, not being able to work buttons or snaps etc. really limits the pants he can wear to just elastic banded exercise pants. Slowly but surely he'll achieve this also!)
All in all, I think Matt is going to have a great year. Knowing that we are basing our plan for his year on what his current abilities are gives me hope that he will make great strides this year.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
YMCA Adventures
We joined the Y when Matt was 2 years old so we could enroll him in their swimming program. Little did we know how many activities and adventures we would find there. I am not sure if every Y is as wonderful as our Y in Torrance. Our Y has been a most welcoming place with lots of different adventures for Matt to experience at various stages.
At two, we did the mommy and me swimming classes and he also did tumbling classes. The social butterfly also had a wonderful time in the child care area while Chris and I worked out.
As he got older we added to his repertory sports 'n fun (intro to various sports), basketball and safety training/baby karate while continuing the swimming classes.
It has been a treat to watch Matt and Amir and all of their peers grow and develop on the basketball court. Matt played basketball from the age of four through eight. At nine years old the kids are moved to a league in which the score is kept. After a few discussions with the director of youth athletics, we decided that we would not advance Matt to the next level (although they were most welcoming to have him try). Up to this point, his teammates have always welcomed Matt and enjoyed having him on their team. I did not think it would be fair to anyone to have him play once the score was being kept and I did not want it to come to a point that his teammates resented having him there.
That did not mean that the Y did not still have sports or activities for Matt. We are currently in Adventure Guides and enjoying that a lots. Next year, Matt is going to try out a new sport - track and field.
And there still is swimming to be mastered. Over the years Matt has progressed from sinking like a stone to beginning dog paddle. I am determined to have Matt become a procificient swimmer. There are too many pools and bodies of water out there to tempt a boy. Knowing what to do once you're in over your head is important.
We have yet to make it to the family night at the Y. I know that Matt would have fun if we could remember to go!!
I foresee a number of grand adventures still be found at our Y. I am looking forward to each of them!
At two, we did the mommy and me swimming classes and he also did tumbling classes. The social butterfly also had a wonderful time in the child care area while Chris and I worked out.
As he got older we added to his repertory sports 'n fun (intro to various sports), basketball and safety training/baby karate while continuing the swimming classes.
It has been a treat to watch Matt and Amir and all of their peers grow and develop on the basketball court. Matt played basketball from the age of four through eight. At nine years old the kids are moved to a league in which the score is kept. After a few discussions with the director of youth athletics, we decided that we would not advance Matt to the next level (although they were most welcoming to have him try). Up to this point, his teammates have always welcomed Matt and enjoyed having him on their team. I did not think it would be fair to anyone to have him play once the score was being kept and I did not want it to come to a point that his teammates resented having him there.
That did not mean that the Y did not still have sports or activities for Matt. We are currently in Adventure Guides and enjoying that a lots. Next year, Matt is going to try out a new sport - track and field.
And there still is swimming to be mastered. Over the years Matt has progressed from sinking like a stone to beginning dog paddle. I am determined to have Matt become a procificient swimmer. There are too many pools and bodies of water out there to tempt a boy. Knowing what to do once you're in over your head is important.
We have yet to make it to the family night at the Y. I know that Matt would have fun if we could remember to go!!
I foresee a number of grand adventures still be found at our Y. I am looking forward to each of them!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)