Weekend update

Just when I think things are showing signs of improvement, one little event comes along to just give me a tap on the head and provide me with reminders.

On Saturday, we went to my parent’s cottage for the weekend. This is a great place – the whole family has a great time there, and have ever since my parents bought it 5 years ago. We have been going there for 5 seasons with no major concerns.

S and the A-man have made friends with some of the local kids, and they are often gone for most of the weekend – or they have friends over to either go swimming or fishing, or during rainy days, or chilly days, to watch movies. This has been the norm.

On Saturday, after dinner, one little girl – my parent’s neighbour – came in and was trying to get the A-man to come with her. S was out, over at his friend’s house, and we all just assumed that she wanted the A-man to come and play too. (He’d had enough of the ‘little kids’ for a while, and was content to sit and read his book.) She was very insistent that the A-man comes with her – which is not like this girl.
I asked her what was going on – why did she need the A-man to come with her. Then she told me that S was in a fight down by the corner store, and she wanted the A-man to come and help his brother.
Well, the mamma lion didn’t need a second word to come out. I had my shoes on, and was heading out the door as I told her that I would be going to help S.

When I got to the area, S and two friends were surrounded by a number of boys that I have never met before. The little neighbour girl filled me in on what had transpired prior to the ‘fight’ and it appeared to me that the other boys instigated the turn of events, but knowing S as I do, I also knew he would (or rather COULD) make things far worse than should be.
When I arrived, there were a number of conflicting stories about what had transpired. I could tell S was still quite heated and agitated, so after a few minutes, I suggested that he just head back to the cottage, and I leave me to talk with the others.
I don’t know if the conversation we had did any good, but my hope is that these boys don’t start anything with him again. The cottage is the one place that S has always felt ‘normal’ and like he belonged.
He’s never had to deal with bully issues, he has always had friends, and he has always enjoyed the freedom of being able to come and go and just hang out with friends. The one boy actually turned out to be one of the friends S had made during a weekend camp last year. I asked him why he had started to pick on S, and he said that he didn’t, but S just over-reacted to something. I hope that is the case, and we don’t see a repeat of this event again.
As I was walking back to the cottage, S’s friends told me that the other boys had started it, and they are known to be ‘jerks’ at the local school. I had a nice long conversation with S, about what happened, how he could have done things differently, that sort of thing. (How much of it will actually sink in and remain is a whole other story, so we shall see.)

Kids… gotta love’em.

Mother’s Day was nice – I got a card from the boys, and S went out and picked me a lovely bouquet of ‘wildflowers’ – aka dandelions. My mom and I worked on cleaning out a scrubby area in the back edge of the property, and we just generally had a very productive day. When I arrived back home last night, I was beat.
And, onward to another week…