TheBanyanTree: The Boys of Summer

[Margaret R. Kramer]

When we take him and his brother to the Children’s Museum or the Science
Museum or anywhere, he runs ahead of us like we don’t count.  He’ll
disappear around the corner and slip in between taller, older folks, and he’
s gone.  We always find him, but he almost resents it.  He’s very
independent.  “Let me do it myself,” is constantly heard from his lips.

He can read a little bit, write his name, knows his numbers and colors, and
he’s only four.  He’s a human road map.  If you can’t remember how to get
somewhere, he will.  He has total recall for directions.  If he’s been
somewhere once, he’ll remember how to get to it again.  How many four year
olds like to look at maps?  He does.

The beach and the water park have been our destinations this summer.  It
hasn’t been stinking hot and it hasn’t been cool either, it’s been just
right.

Boogie always makes “friends” with older boys – boys two to three years
older.  As I watch his budding friendships grow over the course of a beach
afternoon, I notice his “friends” aren’t like the wild boys my son would
make friends with.  Boogie’s friends are the nerdy types.  The boys who like
to know how things work, who take a few minutes to minutely examine a dead
fish on shore, and the boys whose imaginations run wild as they lay on the
sand looking at the clouds dancing overhead.

Boogie can almost swim by himself now, thanks to an older boy we met early
in the summer.  This boy, who was at least three years older than Boogie,
took the time and had the patience to show Boogie how to immerse himself in
the water, how to hold his breath and keep his mouth shut.

Thanks to that boy, I’ve been able to take Boogie in the “big water,” where
we continue to refine his strokes and build his confidence as he jumps off
the side of the pool into the “big water.”

My two year old grandson joins us in the “big water.”  He has no fear.  He’
ll walk off the side of the pool and plop into my arms, kicking and
laughing.

This boy is the total opposite of his older brother.  Boogie will tell his
life story to anyone; Poochie takes a long time to feel comfortable around
adults he doesn’t know.  But Poochie’s shyness doesn’t hold him back.  He
plunges completely into any activity his big brother is doing, even
activities with other kids.

Boogie seeks independence, Poochie will stick around us.  I never have to
search for him in the museum, he’s right by my side.

Poochie can sit and play with one thing for a long time.  He loves to color
and will spend an afternoon happily scribbling in color books.  His big
brother has to sample everything life has to offer, and will in a few short
hours play croquet, ride his bike, dig for worms, build a road, play games
on the computer, and watch his Dinotopia DVD.

The little one LOVES dinosaurs.  If he had no other toy but his plastic
dinosaurs, he would be completely happy.  I let Boogie take pictures with a
disposable camera and after he was done, he left the camera lying on the
table.  Poochie lined up his dinosaurs on the table and grabbed the camera,
telling the dinosaurs to say, “cheese,” and was trying to take pictures of
them.  He had the camera backwards and upside down, but it didn’t matter.  I
’m sure I’ll find a family portrait of Poochie’s dinosaurs when I get the
film developed.

I’ve spent a lot of time this summer with my tan boys.  We’re true beach
bums.  The nice part about my grandchildren is they’re not MINE.  I don’t
have to care about how they act so much or worry about what other parents
think.  They’re unique.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

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