I have not yet written about the World Cup. Needless to say, I'm not really in the mood to talk at length about Sunday's gut punch draw v. Portugal. So instead of a long, whiney diatribe about the US's failure to defeat Portugal and ensure advancement in the World Cup, I thought I would reflect on my entire weekend.
I will start with Friday, noon. That is about when my weekend began, because that is about when I left work for the weekend. I drove home on a gorgeous Friday afternoon, ready to begin two major events of the summer.
First, however, I had to eat lunch and serve ice cream. This past winter was a little snowy in Fairfax County. For reasons that I can't understand, Eldest and Middle were not scheduled to finish school until June 20, 2014. With all the snow, Fairfax County added three days to the schedule, so the last day of school is June 25, 2014. Of course, the high schools did not change their exam schedules or graduations. All seniors graduated and all other high school students finished exams by June 19. So, the county is paying a ton of money for 4 completely useless days. The elementary schools get out early on Mondays and on the last day of school. So the county is paying a ton of money for them to go to school for two half days (plus one full day.) The absurdity of this is beyond words.
Let's add to this absurdity the fact that every student and every teacher is essentially done with school. No one is interested in this last half week of school, because some time around June 12, people realize it is June and school should be over. They are filling the days with parties, concerts, camp in your room days and movies.
Friday afternoon was Middle's end of the year ice cream party. Middle's teacher is a large, sarcastic woman who would not be anyone's idea of a second grade teacher. Luckily, this worked for Middle, so he had a very good year. The Wife has told me several times that I need to volunteer, so I can "see them in their natural habitat." After the ice cream party, I'm not sure I was ready for that. These kids are crazy. So, we threw a bunch of ice cream and candy toppings at them in late June, when they still have four days of school left. Recipe for disaster. Of course, being a parent volunteer is kind of like being a grandparent. You get to have some fun, then leave. So I left.
I went home to clean a little of the house, say good-bye to the wife, and head to Pre-K graduation. Yes, Pre-K Graduation. According to Wikipedia, "Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become graduates." Nothing about this definition applies to Pre-K. However, despite my bad attitude, I enjoyed Pre-K graduation. It was quick, simple, and Youngest was adorable in a blue cap and gown. They did not overdo it. They did it right. Make the kids look cute, let them feel good about themselves, don't take too much time. The weekend started well.
I then went to swim practice to let Youngest play in the pool, get Eldest and Middle from practice and hand out team t-shirts. Shortly after I got there, The Wife texted me that she had left the airport and was almost home. Shortly thereafter, she let me know she was heading up to the pool. My summer was about to change rather dramatically.
For the past two summers, we have hired someone to watch the two older boys for the summer. This is known by several teenagers affiliated with our swim team as one of the best summer jobs you can get. The swim team loves our boys and the "summer nanny" gets to play with them during the day, take them to the pool and play Wii, all while getting paid. We started planning for this summer two years ago, because Youngest would be added to the job, but wouldn't be on the swim team. We needed someone prepared to handle all three boys (something I can't even do) and unaffiliated with the swim team. We turned international, to The Wife's Lithuanian God-Daughter, henceforth known as Our 4th Child.
The Wife was coming up to the pool with Our 4th Child, who had just landed from a really long flight from Lithuania. I guess any flight from Lithuania is really long, so that was redundant. Regardless, I was about to meet our summer nanny and the teenage girl who The Wife and I will be responsible for this summer. I was excited to meet her. I am concerned about how to handle a teenage girl. I have three sons. I had two brothers. My father had two brothers. I don't do girls.
The first meeting went well. Our 4th Child seemed very happy and excited to be in Virginia. Eldest, who had been desperate for her arrival was bouncing off the walls to finally meet her. Youngest seemed pretty excited. Middle, well, he's a little more cautious. It is taking him a little time. We said hello then The Wife took everyone home and ordered pizza. I kept handing out t-shirts, but went home soon enough, after picking up the pizza.
Saturday morning brought rain and our first summer swim meet. Summer swim has been a staple for my entire life. The first summer swim meet each summer is like a breath of fresh air, a new beginning. This year, apparently, it was like a Lithuanian summer day, grey, drizzly, and a little cold. We were supposed to introduce Our 4th Child to a mid-Atlantic Summer, hot, hazy, humid, afternoon thunderstorms. Instead, she brought "summer" with her.
That first meet was a resounding success. The team won (not a common occurrence the last two years), Eldest finished every race ahead of all his competitors (but didn't win all his races because he was disqualified in backstroke), Middle scored in all three events (but was disqualified in his relay) and Our 4th Child didn't run back to the airport, thinking we were crazy for waking her at 6 am to drag her all the way across Fairfax County in the rain for a swim meet. Good start for us.
Sunday, we went mini-golfing. Apparently, Lithuanians don't have mini-golf. We will make that reason number 2 not to live in Lithuania. Once we get her to talk about winter, I'm sure we will get to reason numbers 3-11. It took Our 4th Child a couple holes to get used to some little things like how to hold a club. Eventually she got it and dropped one hole-in-one while finishing second in the family overall. Later she picked up Wii Sports almost as quickly. We may have a "stupid games Americans play" prodigy on our hands. She also learned the "joy" of playing mini-golf with Youngest, who finishes every hole by encircling it with a golf club held backwards pushing the ball in a spiral ever closer to finally dropping it in the hole. Hard as this may be to believe, watching him do this is both more ridiculous and more frustrating than reading that absurd sentence I just wrote.
Finally, we grilled some barbecue chicken, made some corn on the cob, steamed some green beans and ate dinner. After dinner, we sat down to watch the US-Portugal game, somewhat delayed, on TiVO. Eldest, Middle and Youngest were put to bed at halftime, but all came back to the game for the last 10 minutes. I decided to let them stay and see the victorious ending. Great choice, idiot. Instead, we had to put all three back in bed in a bad mood. Then Dad went to bed in a bad mood.
So, that was it. Obviously, it was a terrible weekend, because of the game. The only thing worse would have been if Ronaldo scored the last goal, instead of assisting it.
My boys are learning the pain of being a sports fan. Our 4th Child has been introduced to America with swim meets, American food, mini golf and disappointing soccer results. All sounds about right.
I don't know what to expect from the rest of the summer. After this past weekend, we are all exhausted. We have about 6 months worth of plans to fit into 6 weeks, including a visit to Philadelphia. The culmination of the summer with Our 4th Child will be a girls night out to MetLife Stadium for a One Direction concert. We will explain that later and possibly require a guest blogger, as I, sadly, am not a girl and will not be participating.
That was my weekend. Excitement, exhaustion, fun and gut punch. My summer promises much, much more.
No comments:
Post a Comment