Another Movie

We were scheduled for a playdate with some new folks in Waterbury today. We "met" through a yahoo group I'm on. Four families were to have gone. Were.

At 12:50 just before walking out the door, something prompted me to check my email one last time. There I found all the cancellations. Actually, two of the three. One cancellation showed a time stamp of one hour before we were to have met, one was timed 17 minutes before we were to have met, and one actually cancelled AFTER we were to have met.

I understand it was a hot day, but common courtesy, people! It would have been nice to know before we got all slathered up with sunscreen. Thank goodness I checked my mail, as I would have been incredibly frustrated to be sitting in 97 degree weather in the middle of Waterbury waiting for no-shows with two boys having no one to play with.

So we went to the movies instead. We just couldn't sit here looking at each other all day, especially after the prospect of meeting new friends. We went to the dollar store in the mall and stuffed my bag with goodies before heading in to see Evan Almighty, which I must say, was very fun. The boys had seen trailers for it several times and wanted to see it, and after I read through the review on Screen-it, I had decided it was okay. I got a book out of the library about Noah's Ark so they would know what the heck the story was about, and they both really enjoyed it. I did too. It was fun.

I wish they'd be more careful about the scenes they show before the movies though. The scenes themselves are supposedly acceptable for "all audiences", but to have my seven-year-old watching this was definitely NOT appropriate. Check out Rule #1.

We've picked up quite a bit on the reading around here, which is a giant relief to me. E picked up Arthur and the Minimoys at a book sale after seeing Arthur and the Invisibles (which was quite good), and we've been enjoying reading that. R and I have been enjoying Henry Winkler's books about Hank Zipzer immensly. Hank is dislexic and in the fourth grade and R really relates to him. The books are very funny, and although I wish R was capable of reading them to himself, that would mean I would miss out on the fun. And the conversations about beating up on oneself, trying one's best, etc. We are getting there though; R is finally making some long strides in his own reading ability.

R finished up golf camp a while ago, and is now enjoying tennis lessons every morning for eight days. We are still discussing the pros and cons of the Academia Futebol League (soccer), but it looks like we are leaning toward waiting at least another year before becoming that competitive. Thank you Uncle Larry for your incredibly insightful perspective.

It's been hard without B here. Even though we speak to him daily, E is close to the edge almost all the time, and R is missing him too. My heart goes out to all the children out there who don't have fathers to share their lives with. And all the moms without partners. I have to admit to missing B more than I thought I would.