The good, the bad, and the Y chromosome

I don't know what you did for the long weekend, but we took our family camping. It was our fourth venture out in our new trailer. Here's what came of our weekend at Clear Lake.


The Good.

We're getting pretty efficient at setting up and taking down this contraption. We've got it pretty much down to a science. We even plan for the boys to explore the vicinity on their bikes while we do it.

While we didn't do as much hiking as Doug and I would normally like to do, we did manage to get the boys on the marsh walk. Calling it a walk made Matt complain less, and Kelvin REALLY got excited about the whole thing. He could have spent the entire day there trying to catch leeches and such.

The weather mostly co-operated with us this time. We neither set up nor took down our abode in the rain. We actually got to put everything away dry! While we were expecting a really hot weekend, it probably is good that it was a little cooler. I only got sunburned on one day (the marsh walk) and even that is not too bad.

The Bad.

Have I mentioned that FASD behaviour is often cyclical? Well folks, we are smack dab in the middle of the bad part of the cycle, let me tell you. We had several fits - not the least of which was while we were setting down the trailer. I'm half surprised that no-one called the authorities thinking that we were beating on a kid who can scream that loudly. I've been hit, kicked, had stones thrown at me, and been called "stupid mom" so often I'm tempted to just put it on my license plate. No amount of consequences will quell the storm. No offer of rewards for good behaviour are incentive. And no amount of reasoning will deter this child from his view that he is entitled to whatever he wants, when he wants it, and always before and bigger than his brother.

I would have been in tears but for my resolve not to let him know that he can get to me that way. It would only get worse. Somehow the wiring in his damaged brain has left him without a shred of empathy, and with limited logic. It's all about him.

Now, I know we've walked through this before. We've survived. It has always passed.... eventually. But right here in the middle of the storm - we need help! We're runnin' on empty. And we are going on a longer trip in just a couple of weeks. Scary.

Pray. Please pray. Only divine intervention will enable our survival.

The Y chromosome.

Yes, I'm back on the "boys are aliens" kick.

This weekend I think my boys hit a milestone. They are no longer little boys, but big ones. Was it the ability to jump to the third rung on the monkey bars? The hanging upside down by one's knees to the dread of one's father?

The endless spinning on the merry-go-round thingy that's been banned at most playgrounds ? The ability to eat a 6" sub and still be hungry? No. This weekend my boys discovered how to do armpit farts. I even heard Kelvin tell Matt that it worked better if you lick your hand first.

Why?

Why?

Y?

sigh...