Denis and Death

There has been a lot of death hovering over the house lately. Most of it not horrific, but it's always a tough topic. Mimi's sister's dog had to be put down recently. Denis' pet fish died. And Mimi's father has been very ill and has recently come out of a rough heart surgery.

Each one individually is a tough thing to have. Together they got to the point where they were weighing heavily on Denis' mind. I didn't really have any idea that it was affecting him until after getting out of the shower the other night he was waiting for me. He was very quiet and subdued. I asked him what was going on and he choked out "I'm scared of death!"

That's a tough one! What kind of answer do you give an 11 year old on that topic? I tried the "everything lives and everything dies" approach with little success. I tried the "You'll see everything again in Heaven" approach. That worked a little better when I confirmed that yes, his fish will be waiting for him there.

In the end I think he just realized that I didn't have the perfect answer on this one, but that talking it out made him feel a little better. I am glad he felt better, but I have to say I feel like I failed him a bit on this one.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Mile Swim

Denis went on a scouting trip with the rest of his troop for an entire week over the summer. It was really his first ever time away from home (really far away from home) without either parent. He did very well. He told me later that he was a little homesick for home, but it wasn't until the day they were driving back!

While he was there the troop did a ton of badges and advancements. And on top of that they did one major event - the mile swim.

Now as you all know, Denis has a small disability that makes things like swimming very challenging for him. He is on the pool swim team, but in 3 years of racing the only position that he's every finished in was last. So he clearly has no speed whatsoever.

What he does have is determination! He decided that he was going to do the mile swim. I'm glad I wasn't there. I probably would have tried to talk him out of it. But I wasn't, so he went on with it.

And against my prediction he finished. He was one of only 2 11 year olds who finished. It took him 75 minutes!! I think that amazed me even more. Being in the water for 75 minutes gives you a ton of opportunity to quit. But he didn't quit.

I don't know that I could keep my head above water for 75 minutes. I am so proud of him!

Poker fascination


I guess it's because it's all over TV these days, but Liam has become completely fascinated with poker. Not that we've ever watched it ourselves in our house. But it seems you can't get away from it in some restaurants.

Specifically he loves Texas Hold 'em. Now I grew up playing poker with my broithers and the boys in the neighborhood. But I have never played that game before. So that made it kind of fun. He was able to teach me something, which I'm sure for him was a nice change of pace from being constantly instructed by me!

After he learned he decided he simply *must* have a poker set of his own. A couple hundred clay chips, a couple decks of cards, and a case to carry it all in. I thought it was crazy - why all the ornamentation? Just play the game! But he really wanted it.

I certainly wouldn't buy it for him, but he had saved enough allowance money to get it. So he did. And unlike so many other things he buys, he's actually stayed interested in it. He brought it on our family vacation. Not just a desk of cards - the whole case! And we used it several times.
So I guess there is something about letting him get things on his own.

Amazingly he knows what he likes better than I do!