Summer Time

It is that time again and summer is upon us. I have been traveling quite a bit, so have missed some of the end of school year activities. By the time I returned from my business trip, the boys were already on summer break. My wife has signed them up for a series of summer camps and this year, the three older boys decided to swim on the local neighborhood swim club team.

My six year old started off the meet this morning with "the butterfly" stroke. I could never do the butterfly stroke when I was a kid, so it was gratifying to see him swim all the way across a 25 yard pool. There is something satisfying seeing your kids do things that you were not able to do at their age. Since this is our first summer on the swim team, the boys are not as fast as the other returning team members. It is interesting how to watch how each of the boys deals with this situation. The oldest, of course, has the most difficult time. Things are not the way they should be and therefore not very fun. The middle child takes it all in stride and looks forward to the donuts they serve. The 6 year old is going through a winning stage, so everything is not right. The water is too cold, the butterfly stroke is too difficult, "there is too much ketchup on the hamburger," "I'm hungry" he says between meals, "I'm not hungry" he says during meals and on and on...

My colleagues are always amazed that I do not even hear the baby crying next to me on the airplane during our business trips. I tell them, that with 4 boys at home, once I get on the airplane, one or two babies crying doesn't even register anymore. It's a gift.