My Contented Son

Since we've begun this new reality with J in a charter school and B & S at home our days are...quieter.  In his classes my active-alert child is receiving the over-stimulation he thrives on, while at home I can actually hear the needs of B & S, hear B read aloud, hear S tell me his view of the world.  We're all in a good space right now.

B is doing really well.  His reading progressed wonderfully over the summer. He's taking on projects with cooperative determination.  He's responding to our read-alouds with all kinds of appropriate emotion.  And when we're done with the activities of the school day, he takes off for the backyard -- hitting crabapples over the fence with a bat (so sorry, neighbors!), cutting down weeds behind the garage, riding his scooter, playing with the hose.  And I feel his peace. 

In the process I believe he's finding out who he is: who he is outside of the shadow of his brother, who he is as an older brother to S, who he is in his faith, who he is in nature.  It's a great time to be B right now.  And I'm glad that I have more bandwidth to notice and truly enjoy my contented son.