Braving Boys

Joey claims to not like a lot of things, like the vast majority of  healthy foods, playing most sports, performing in piano recitals, getting haircuts, and, much to my dismay — writing. He is a good writer, though, and, in the spirit of parental bragging, I share with you his latest 5th grade assignment. (I admit I helped edit in the slightest, but not to perfection — which was hard — because he is only 10, and I realize he needs to excel at his own pace, not mine.)

What do you do with 120 kids, a bunch of luggage, and two jam-packed school buses? You head straight to Camp Crystal! I just spent two nights and three days at this camp, and I definitely have three favorite activities from my experience.

Free time! Free time was the activity that gave me the most joy. Just staring around with loads of stuff to do, I usually picked Four Square. Four Square is a game of agility and skill, of which I have plenty. One time, I jumped on a square and the next thing I knew, I was the king. I was getting everyone out until that one person came along who was unbeatable. I was out like a flash. I also played volleyball during free time. Even though I wasn’t very good, I tried anyway. It wasn’t that hard until the ball came flying my way and when I hit it, it just slugged into the net. Once, the ball came zipping my way, and I knocked it right over the net. It soared all the way until it smashed into the sand. One point Joey’s side! I was so exited, and I realized that probably wouldn’t happen again. Those are the two great events about free time.

Today is the day for fishing! Fishing is my passion, and Camp Crystal rocked because I got to fish. After I got my supplies, I started. First, I would dig a net into the mud. Then, I would search for wildlife. One time, I caught a water bug with my bare hands! I had seen it move in the water, and I was all over it. I gently put the bug in the water bucket and watched it. Another cool devise I used was a microscope. I used it to look closely at wildlife. One time, I put a baby shrimp under the microscope and looked closely at it. It was like a ball, and it didn’t move. I found out it was just an egg. We let all of the bugs and creatures go and put away all our working utensils. Fishing rules, and Camp Crystal and its lakes are awesome.

Light it up! Another reason why Camp Crystal was so super was we got to have a campfire. We even got to make s’mores! One time, I gave my s’more a nice brown toast, slapped it on my cracker, and gobbled it down. It tasted like heaven. Also, the campfire gave me the chance to just sit down and talk to my friends with the fire blaze on my back. Once, we were talking to each other and telling really funny jokes. We laughed all night long. The fire added another terrific touch to my camp adventure.

Camp Crystal, almost there! Three exiting adventures I enjoyed were free time, fishing, and the campfire. I’m definitely going back in the summer!

Want more? Check out this 4th grade essay.

And Danny writes, too — 2nd grade essay.

Stuffed into his overflowing last-day-of-school backpack was a crumpled-up letter my second-grade grad Danny wrote to first graders who will soon encounter the grade he has just finished. And when I say crumpled up, I mean the paper was so crushed and crinkled it was barely legible. There was even a worn-through hole in the center, making it very difficult to piece together a few words. I think I got them right, though, and here they are:

Dear First Graders,

Second grade is easy and hard. You have a lot of homework. The end of the school year is easy and a happy day.

You go on cool field trips like the aquarium and more. It is easy most of the year. You get to have field day. The most best part is you don’t have the FCAT in second grade. You will like it so much.

I did get just a little pain. I had a little trouble on the math question and reading questions. I like second grade the best out of all the grades in this whole entire school. It is the best grade you will ever go in.

Sincerely,
Danny

I got the nicest email today from Danny’s second-grade teacher.

Dear Jacki,

Danny wrote an incredible story today!!  Can you please type it up?  The other students want a copy of it!!  He told the class he learned how to write from his mother!  Good job, Mom!! WOW!!

Danny, the bashful writer (well, not really)

The Snake Surprise
By Danny Donaldson

One day, our class snake got out of his cage. Mrs. Omer sent me and Perry to go get it, and we looked around and couldn’t find it, so we went to tell Mrs. Omer, and she said, “Go look again!” We found him, and he dashed away faster than light. We saw which way he went, and he led us into the woods.

We looked everywhere, and we were going to give up, but we couldn’t find our way back. So, we had to keep on looking. We saw something moving in a tree. We looked in the tree. Boom! An owl flew out of a tree like a jaguar and scratched me with his claws on his legs. We kept on going.

Soon, we came to a little hole, and we looked in it. Still, we couldn’t find the snake. A different snake jumped out like a lemur on my head. I took it off, and it looked like the class snake, but the class snake didn’t hiss, so I knew it wasn’t our class snake. I threw it down, but it followed me. So, I let it sit on my shoulder. It was my buddy. So was Perry. Perry found a cave that led to a light. We went in it, but it was just a flashlight. We went back out, and we saw Kevin run with our snake. That is why he wasn’t in the class yesterday. We caught him easily. He threw the snake up and escaped and caught it. He ran away again, and he went in the cave where we saw the flashlight. There was a path where we didn’t see it. We followed Kevin. There was a password slot, but I knew the number was 11793978901. It was right! I got in, and I saw him. The path led back in the woods. Soon, we were far away from school.

Then, it became night, and we were tired, and we lost Kevin. We heard a noise in the woods. It was Kevin without the snake. He said, “Wahaha, you don’t know where I hid the snake, and you will never find him.” Perry and I said, “Oh, really?” We found it right away. It was in the cave. We picked it up, and it was as slippery as goo, water, and Gatorade. I picked it up, and we got it back and celebrated with joy. We had a lot of cookies and Gatorade. It was a festival.

It was the best day ever, and I mean it. Bye!

P.S. It wasn’t goo, Gatorade, or water. It was a snake!

Catch and Release

There’s not a whole lot this boy loves. Well, he does have a fondness for candy, his iPod Touch, lounging on his bed watching TV, and most anything that costs us money and counts as a toy or a treat. But out of all the life-enriching activities endorsed by us, the parents, there’s really only one biggie that makes the cut — fishing. (Well, there is gardening, too, but it comes in a distant second.)

Joey is good at lots of things, like school, piano, drama, football, and basketball, but none of these register as favorites in any way, shape, or form. Sure, he likes to tackle me in the aisles of Walmart just for fun, toss the ball around with his dad in random fields, and crush his little brother in backyard hoops. Put him on a team, though, or anything formal and organized, and while he’ll play along, he won’t be all that interested. A boat, now, or a dock — transport him to one or the other, and a happy boy, you will see. It’s beautiful, really, how our boy, who first started challenging us the day he was born, can become so still, peaceful, and patient. He has no problem rising in the wee and dark hours of the morning, trekking all over the state of Florida, working tirelessly for a good catch and release or a cast net full of shrimp, and while he does have a bit of an issue with cleaning the boat, he does it, because he knows it’s part of the deal.

I don’t know how it happened — how he came to pick fish over footballs — but ask him to head out to the water, and he’s there, content for the long haul, and plotting out the next big trip. Will his love affair continue? I’m not sure. But for now, we’re embracing this hobby that makes our boy happier than anything else in this big world. (Oh, and for good measure, we’re also forcing him to stick with piano, because, have you ever known an adult who gave up on lessons as a kid who doesn’t now regret the decision? Well, we haven’t, and if you have, please don’t tell Joey or Danny.)

Photo: earl53, morgueFile

Joey is in fourth grade, and writing is the end-up, be-all of this stage in his school career. I love it, because writing, I can handle. It’s the math that throws me into fits of confusion. So, you can bet that when given the opportunity to help Joey master his skills with pencil and paper, I’m jumping at the chance.

Joey’s teacher told me Friday that practicing writing at home is a wise idea, so tonight, we sat at the kitchen table with a matching assignment, and we wrote, and wrote, and wrote, until we both had finished four paragraphs. Our challenge was to write clearly, to elaborate on details, and to use our sparkly words (first-grade terminology there!). I think we did pretty well, and what follows are the essays we completed. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I do admit that I edited for spelling and punctuation — but that’s all. And just a teeny, tiny bit. And the exclamation points: All Joey. The words, however, were not altered in any way. I promise.

Assignment: Everyone has enjoyed special days. Think about one day that was special to you. Now, write to explain why this particular day was so special to you.

By Joey

112 shrimp!

“Yes, I’m reeling it in. It’s a big one. Awesome. It’s a large mouth bass.” This is what I said to my dad when we went fishing at the St. John’s River. This was a special day because school was the next day, and I wanted to end the last day of summer on a good note. Also, I wanted to spend some time with my dad.

I don’t really like school, so I needed to end it on a good note. I like to think back on what I did this summer, and I am going to do that now. I went to get a boat and truck, I did drama camp, I learned to play the piano, I had a garden, and I played football. The best thing about the summer was the boat and truck. The most shrimp we caught on the boat was 112 shrimp! It took two hours to clean. The worst part of the cleaning was the veins. But the shrimp were delicious to eat, which made the last day of summer awesome!

I usually don’t get to see my dad much, so I wanted to spend a lot of time with him on the last day of summer. When I’m at home, he is usually at work, so spending about five hours with my dad each weekend is pretty nice. When my dad and I are on the boat together, we mostly shrimp, but in the meantime, we also use our nice poles. I help my dad dock up the boat. I help my dad dock up the boat because he needs to put the trailer in the water. We work on our boat 50/50 to make it a team project. Any day with my dad is a good day.

There have been many good times in my life, but this one was the best because boating and spending time with my dad are awesome things to do to end the last day of summer on.

By Jacki

Finished!

It’s hard to choose just one special day, because there are two most-special days in my life, and they are January 3, 2001, and May 30, 2003 — the days my babies (Joey and Danny) were born. So, in an effort to not play favorites, I’ll go with another day altogether — the day I ran and finished a half-marathon. This day rocked for two reasons. First, I wasn’t sure I could conquer such a feat, and I did. Second, I had a spunky and enthusiastic cheering section waiting for me at the finish line.

At one time in my life, I could hardly run around the block. Then, a fitness trainer friend challenged me to run for 20 minutes without stopping. I wasn’t speedy, but I succeeded. I kept at the running, and before long, I ran a 5K, which is 3.2 miles. Still, a half-marathon wasn’t even on my radar — until I watched a “Biggest Loser” episode and saw the contestants run a full marathon. Surely, I could master half of that, so I decided to try it. I trained for 10 weeks, running in the heat, cold, rain, and wind, and clocking as many as 12 miles before the big event. Then, on February 14, 2010, I pounded the pavement for 13.1 miles. It took me two hours and 12 minutes, and boy, was I glad when that was over. But WOW, was I elated to have scored such a grand victory in my life!

The shouting observers and on-lookers who filled the finish-line area were very motivating, but it wasn’t the people I didn’t know who made me jump for joy. It was my family people — my kids, husband, mom, sister and nieces. They yelled and waved fancy, hand-made posters at me. They greeted me with hugs and kisses, and their love and support warmed my heart, which was pretty important on this freezing-cold day — it was 29 degrees outside!

I bet a lot of people would count marathons as events that make for special days. I’m one of them. There’s just nothing quite like pushing myself physically to overcome something that seems sort of impossible, and to finish the journey welcomed by screaming fans makes for one seriously spectacular day!

Hey, batter!

We’re not opposed to bribing boys for certain behaviors, although we prefer to call it “motivating” boys or “inspiring” boys, because, well,  it just sounds better. We did it recently with grades. We told Joey and Danny we’d pay them for each A (Joey) and each E (Danny), and surprise — Joey brought home straight As on his first 9-week report card, and Danny delivered mostly Es.

Some say kids should not be financially rewarded for doing well in school, they should shine scholastically because it’s expected. I say showing up is expected. Excelling is icing on the cake. And, hey, we’re all for helping our boys pile on the icing.

My mom bribed motivated Joey this weekend, and I must say it worked wonders. You see, my poor guy has been in a batting slump. Once known for cracking the ball with ease, the kid had gone several baseball games without  making any hint of contact. He became so discouraged, he was pretty sure he’d never choose to play ball again. And then something generous happened: His Nana offered him $10 for each hit during tournament play. Score. The kid hit, and hit, and hit, and hit — that’s four hits, which means Joey is now $40 richer. I’m pretty sure he might play on a team again. I’m definitely sure his confidence is restored, and there’s nothing better than that at the end of a season.

Is Joey only getting good grades and hitting baseballs because of the cash that awaits him? Maybe. Is that a problem? Nope. He still makes his bed voluntarily. He cleans up after himself free of charge and he drags in the trash can every Tuesday morning simply because it’s his job — not because there’s a fee attached. For some tasks, however, we will inspire our kids with a little moolah. The way I see it, it’s partly (perhaps mostly) why we all perform well in our jobs — because we want the prize that comes in the form of a pumped-up paycheck.

And then it’s entirely possible the money didn’t inspire — maybe Joey rocked the start of third grade because he’s just that smart. And maybe his coaches and dad and uncle, who spent hours fine-tuning his swing and stance, are to credit for the comeback. Perhaps it’s a combination of everything — smarts, good coaches and funds. And if that’s the case, I couldn’t be happier.

Joey became a Dinomite Student today. Every year, the kids at his elementary school vie for a Friday honor. In kindergarten, they shoot for Shining Star. In first grade, it’s Apple of My Eye (Danny didn’t get picked this week, but he’s OK with that). And in third grade, this special folder comes home. Inside is a questionnaire Joey has already completed (his favorite music is rock, his favorite foods are ribs and garlic bread, his favorite subject is math and so on), and on Monday, he’ll cart into class a few photos of himself. Then the whole package will somehow be displayed in the classroom for the week, until another Dino kiddo is chosen next Friday.

Oh, and on another paper in his folder are a bunch of words his classmates wrote describing him: Good friend, cool, very nice, nice work, good job, smart, video gamer and fast. He is fast. Well, and the other things too.

Joey is proud. We are proud. And we’re taking him out for dinner tonight. For ribs.