The boys were invited to a bowling party for Jai. They had fun over all. Jia came with and lucked out with an empty spot for her to fill.
It was a hard day for me. For the most part dealing with the boys delays is just a part of what we do. Yesterday it all just stood out more than usual. Luk can barely get the ball to the lane and basically he drops it and it rolls extremely slowly to the end. Both boys needed me there. They don't know when it's their turn. They have to be told each step. Get a ball. Walk to the line. Can you see the line? Move up. Move up. Move up. Go forward. Good. Now spread your legs. Staighten your leg. Too far, you're going to fall. Now roll the ball. Swing your arms. Use your muscles. And then all over again on each turn. They never know when they've used three balls. They don't really care if their ball makes it to the end or if it knocks anything down. They have no clue there is a score.
Then the food. Kai sat and skarffed all of the cantaloupe off the share plate while Luk was bowling. Yikes. Oh my lord. How embarrassing is that?! Then he cried when he couldn't take the last piece. At home we've discovered share plates are a total no go but apparently we need to practice being polite so we don't have this happen again. The other boys were running around the bowling alley. Running into others. Climbing chairs. Having a popcorn fight. Making messes. Clueless about when it was their turn. Lofting balls. While my three sat at a table waiting. On the surface it would appear they knew they were there to bowl and were playing/behaving properly. They sat to eat. They were lovely. But...it did look odd. They had no interest it running around with the other boys. I didn't have to ask them to stick around. Eric and my Mom both tell me it's because they know how to go bowling and eat out at a party. My mama's heart would like to see them fit in better.
When the hot dogs were served, I realized Kai had already used two other boys napkins. Because he does that. He likes to wipe after every bite but doesn't like used napkins. We need more work on this too. Also when the drinks came with names on them I watched Kai drink from three cups until he found one he liked. Clearly I needed two adults so I could stay closer to Kai. Eric was there but he doesn't watch the details. He was likely just pleased they weren't running around.
Then it was time for presents. I gave Kai his gift for Jai. With the 18th reminder, this is NOT for Kai, it's for Jai, it's Jai's Birthday. I turned around to help Luk sit in the circle and when I turned back Kai had opened the present. Oy. I quickly removed it and handed it to Jai. Then Kai attempted to get his hands on all the other gifts. We have serious ownership issues. I tried moving Kai out of the circle but he started to cry and refused to move. So I had to just keep removing things from his hands. Crazy town.
When I was removing the opened present from Kai, he clutched onto the card that he made and I had to wrestle it from him while he screeched "MINE". He turned and gave me an evil glare. Eric is soooooo taking Kai to the next Birthday party ;)
Cake was a huge success for Kai. He heard cake and started dancing. He was quite happy to go sit in his spot and wait. Then another kid got cake first so he cried again. He cheered up as soon as his cake was delivered. Luk zoned out during cake. Both boys were covering their ears. It is loud in the bowling alley. They were thrilled to get out of there!
Oh, and we were only there a few seconds when another Mom told me her son was so excited to get a party invite that he sat and wrote a thank you note. On his own...I asked. I don't think our boys even knew they were going to a party.
I am aware that you can't compare kids. They all move at their own pace. Luk and Kai are happy kids and none of the details matter in the scheme of things. I KNOW all of this and yet some days are still hard and embarrassing.
