Birthday Fun

We decided to celebrate Mr. 9 and Mr. 7's birthdays with a trip to the Cape Codder with friends rather than the usual parties. My intern retreat was at the Cape Codder - the retreat that began after being awake 30 hours on one of my worst call nights ever and continuing downhill from there. It had been a night of ICU transfers and the sad death of a patient whose family was not ready to let go and there had been no sleep and lots of tension all night. At home it wasn't much better with Mr. 6 (then only 2 years old) didn't sleep and the packing did not go well. At least the boys had a great time with karoke.

So our memories of the Cape Codder were not rosy but the wave pool with water slides seemed perfect for our crew and some good friends joined us and now happy memories can edge out those from 4 years ago.

Mr. 7 and 9 loved the wave pool and would have happily swam for hours while Mr. 2 enjoyed it until his lips turned blue and then he huddled in a towel. Even Mr. 0 seemed interested and his first time in the pool was a happy one (not so with Mr. 9 whose shrieking lasted for a good half hour after his first dip). Despite their love of swimming, the older boys were not interested in the slides at first. On Sunday morning Mr. 9 decided he wanted to go. And then decided that he didn't. And then decided he did. This is all taking place at the top of the slide with lots of people waiting as he fretted and told me that he knew I would be ashamed of him if he didn't go. I thought this was probably a case where he needed a push even it was a bit scary for him and once he finally went down (with me almost having to push him), he loved it and happily went over and over again.

It's always been like this for him. Riding his bike was terrifying until he actually just did it and then wouldn't get off for the rest of the summer. He builds it up in his mind and needs that push to finally get past it.

Once Mr. 9 went down he really wanted Mr. 7 to give it a try. Mr. 7 also went through the back and forth but it involved much more screaming and tears. And at the thought that Mr. 7 really wasn't going to go, Mr. 9 burst into tears. And our lovely friend S kept trying to convince him that it wasn't scary but that just seemed to raise the emotional bar. So in the end he didn't go and I was exhausted from the emotional battles of the morning. It is so hard to know when to push and when to back off. For Mr. 9, he needed that push even though it involved nearly forcing him to go the first time. For Mr. 7, it just wasn't the right time and we'll have to try again another day. Hopefully with a wiser captain.