Easy Peasy

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that I fret from time to time about whether I'm providing enough enrichment/extracurricular stuff for my kid. I guess not enough to make it easy to find those past posts to provide the links here, BUT, I do. As a kid, I recall being bored a lot of time time, and wish my parents had provided/suggested some kind of art, music or sport for me to develop some skill on/with.

And it's not that I want to go overboard and have his schedule booked out and commit to having to get him somewhere for practice each night after school. I just want him to get excited about something other than playing video games, which have been his passion for a few years now. As I type this, it seems like perhaps removing them for a while would hasten the process of finding another "thing", and I might. But the point is that he hasn't found anything yet that he's said, "Mom, I want to do X, will you sign me up?'

In addition to that, my city's Rec department is top-notch. They have a ton of things going on, and put out a big booklet of activities once per quarter. And every time it comes out, I guess I see opportunities wasted or something.

But this coming school year, it seems like an easy solution has been found. At the end of last year, he participated (at my suggestion) in the after school Lego robotics club, which more or less saved him a spot for the "real" Lego club that he's eligible for now that he's going into (gasp) 5th grade.

Me: So, will you be doing the Lego robotics club this fall after school?
Mr W: No.
Me: Well, you did it at the end of last year, and this year you'd get to compete in the tournament
Mr W: OK.

OK? Oh, OK! Alright then, that's one thing. It was like his default answer is no, until nudged a little otherwise.

Smelling blood in the water sensing an opportunity to get him to agree to a sport, I asked what sport he'd do if he had to sign up for something. I'm a little embarrassed to have had to put it that way, but there it is. And he said he'd like to do the Running Club. Huh? Oh, OK. He's tall and slim, maybe running could be his thing.

So, just like that, we've got activities lined for him for the school year. Easy peasy. And the best part is that it's all at his school. No shuttling. I really like that.

In other news, BW's still around. We seem to be seeing each other a couple of times a week, and that feels about right. He's in no hurry to meet Mr W, and I'm fine with that; my kid's got a dad in the picture. As these last couple of weeks have unfolded, it feels to me like the tide is turning, that some sort of hill (or valley) has been crossed and I'm heading away from the anxiety of the last few months. I'm happy to ride this for a while, and feel lucky.